WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT: LOVE OR TRUTH?

On September 2, 2014August 30, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, House Church, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

The fact is this: Love and Truth are equally important. We need to hold on to both. Love without truth is just meaningless and ineffective sentiment. Truth without love is arrogant and cruel.

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Matthew #26 . Matthew 8:5-13

When He entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony! ”

“I will come and heal him,” He told him.

“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go! ’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come! ’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this! ’ and he does it.”

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, “I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was cured that very moment. (Matt 8:5-13, HCSB)

Last time we saw how Jesus reached out and physically and spiritually touched someone who was literally untouchable – a leper. Now Matthew records another incident where Jesus interacted with someone whom the Jewish culture of his time saw as unacceptable. The man in question is a centurion – an army officer. Automatically, this means two things. First, he was not Jewish. The Jews at the time were an occupied people, a people under the oppression of Rome and Rome’s vassals. The Jews were not permitted to have their own army, so any army officer would certainly be a Gentile.

Second, because he was an army officer, not only was this centurion a non-Jew, but he was also one of the oppressors. Part of his job was to enforce laws that the Jewish people had not made, and to keep them from rebelling. He was part of the conquering and occupying army that was kept in the Jewish homeland. He would have been viewed by the Jews much the same way patriotic Frenchmen would have viewed a German officer in the army that occupied France during the Second World War. To put it another way – he was the enemy.

So here is Jesus, heading home with his Jewish disciples, and along comes the enemy. I think it is worthwhile to look both at how the man approached Jesus, and what Jesus said to him and about him.

Let’s begin with the centurion. He was probably in charge of the local garrison of soldiers. Jesus was a young, homeless, Jewish Rabbi with no official standing. The centurion could have come to Jesus and said, “Look, I’m the law in the town. Some officials might consider you a troublemaker. But I could make things easier for you if you take care of me, too.”

Instead, he came to Jesus and called him “Lord.” We’ve already talked about what this word means in Greek. It could mean “sir,” or it could mean “The Lord” as in, God. Even for a Gentile army officer to call a homeless Jewish Rabbit “Sir” is startling. But I think as we go through the text, we’ll see that this Centurion meant not only “Sir” but also “Lord” in the sense that he personally believed that Jesus was The Lord.

Let’s continue to look at the humility of this man. He doesn’t even actually make a request of Jesus. He simply tells him the problem. He says, “My servant is paralyzed with pain.” He doesn’t tell Jesus what to do about it – he just brings his burden to the Lord. I think this is very useful to us when we come to God in prayer. So often I am tempted to tell the Lord how to deal my prayer request: “Sally has leukemia, Lord, would you please touch her bone-marrow and remove the problem, and let those white and red blood cells come into balance?” But this Centurion shows us the way of simple trust. He simply says, “Lord, my servant is ill and in pain.” He figures that Jesus will know exactly what to do about it. He seems to think that simply just bringing the problem to Jesus will be enough. I can learn a lot from this.

Jesus, confronted by this enemy soldier, by a man who enforces the oppression of his people and who, by his cooperation, keeps them in crushing poverty, responds immediately: “I will come and heal him.”

The Centurion again displays both humility and faith. First, he knows that if Jesus enters his house, it will cause trouble for Jesus. Jews were not supposed to go into the houses of Gentiles. In those days, that would make them ceremonially unclean, and they would have to go through a cleansing ritual before they could worship again, or even eat with other Jews.

So the Centurion demurs. He could have said, “My servant is not worth all that trouble,” but what he actually said was, “I am not worthy, and besides, there is no need.” This is where he reveals that he already sees Jesus as the “The Lord.” He describes his own command. He is in Palestine under the orders of the Roman Caesar, and so he has authority to tell his soldiers what to do. He recognizes that Jesus is on earth under the orders of God the Father, and so Jesus has the authority to tell the very creation what to do. He only needs to give the order, and the sickness will leave.

Most of the New Testament was originally written on a paper-like material called “Papyrus.” It was much more rare and expensive than paper and ink today. So Matthew doesn’t take the time to give us this man’s back story. But clearly, he had spent some time around Jesus, and he believed absolutely that Jesus had all the authority of God.

The next line is worth analyzing a little bit. It says that Jesus was amazed. The Greek doesn’t have a direct English equivalent, but it might be best translated, “Hearing this, Jesus marveled at it, and said…” You almost get the sense that Jesus was surprised. But how could Jesus be at the same time the one true omniscient God, and yet also be surprised? I think this question is very important, so we’ll take it as a side-topic for a minute. When Jesus came to earth, though he came in the fullness of his God-nature (Colossians 1:16-20) he chose, for the entire time he was on earth, to set aside all the advantages of being God, and to remain every bit as dependent upon the Father as we are (Philippians 2:6-11). And so, every miracle He did, He did not from His own power as God the Son, but rather, as any human would do – by completely depending upon the Father:

Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed. (John 5:19-20, HCSB)

So Jesus was not using his divine omniscience when he spoke with the Centurion. He had chosen to set that aside, and not use it. Therefore, he did not know the future any more than you or I, except when the Father chose to reveal it to him. This was part of Jesus’ sacrifice for us – that he became like us, even to the extent of setting aside his Godly powers, and depending instead on the Father, just like any other human being must do. Remember the temptations of Satan in Matthew chapter four? They were aimed at trying to get Jesus to use his own power, rather than depending upon the Father. Jesus agreed to live a life that required trust in the Father, so that he was like us in every way.

Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death — that is, the Devil — and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. Therefore, He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested. (Heb 2:14-18, HCSB)

This business of being amazed at the Centurion is just one example of how Jesus made himself like us, dependent on the Father. He knows what it is like to not know what God is going to do. He knows what it is like to blindly trust that God will do the right thing, the best thing, even when he personally doesn’t know what that will be. He has truly “walked in our shoes.”

With that, let’s get back to the Centurion. Speaking (as always) what the Father leads him to speak, Jesus makes a statement that would have been startling, and even offensive, to many of the Jews around him.

First, Jesus unequivocally makes trust in Him the requirement for entering the Kingdom. Second, he adds, basically, “A lot of non-Jewish people will be there in the Final Kingdom of Heaven – and many Jewish people will not be there.”

Over the fifteen-hundred from Moses to Jesus, the Jewish people went through an difficult and tragic arc in their attitudes toward non-Jews. God’s promise to Abraham was designed to bless both Abraham’s descendants, and the nations around them. The laws given through Moses commanded the people of Israel to be different from those around them, in order to show the nations something of what God was like, and so encourage those pagan people to come into God’s blessing. But the Hebrew people did not really obey those laws. Instead, after they entered the promised land, they embraced the cultures around them and let go of the things that made them unique, the things that would show foreigners the truth of God. They let the cultures around them influence them, and ultimately, lead them astray into abandoning the One true God. They went through many cycles of repenting and coming back to God, and then straying away again. Finally, they were utterly destroyed as nation roughly 587 years before Jesus (587 BC). When the nation was re-formed seventy years later, it seemed they had finally learned their lesson. The Jews after that maintained a very distinct identity. They no longer seemed inclined to mix with the cultures around them, nor worship false gods. But now, they went too far in the opposite direction. Not only did they not mix with the non-Jews around them, but they no longer cared if those outsiders ever learned anything about the One true God. They became self-satisfied, and by the time of Jesus, felt that Heaven was the birthright of all Jews, and all those who were not born Jewish were generally out of luck. It is true, there were still converts to the Jewish religion from other nations, but as whole, at the time of Jesus, Jews did not pursue non-Jews or make much effort to tell them about God. If an outsider expressed a passionate interest in Judaism, he could probably find a Jewish person to help him convert, but in general Jewish folks were not very eager to spread the word, being content to have it to themselves.

So when Jesus states that many Gentiles (non-Jews) will be in heaven, and many Jews will not, this was a shocking and offensive idea. Many people may have felt that they would automatically be in Heaven, just because they were Jews by birth. By the same token, they felt that non-Jews would not be there, simply because they were born to the wrong kind of parents. But Jesus challenges their entire basis for salvation and heaven. He says it is about trusting Him.

There are so many applications to this passage. Let’s go back to the Centurion. He was a soldier in an especially brutal army in an especially brutal era of history. Sometimes we think, “I want to follow Jesus, but it’s really tough to do that in my profession. No one around me understands. It just doesn’t fit my circumstance.” But this man in the Roman Army found it possible to trust Jesus and follow him, even in his exceptionally brutal and profane circumstances. If you find yourself saying, “It’s hard to follow Jesus while I do _______ for a living,” I encourage you to pause and consider this Centurion.

Now let’s think about Jesus welcoming this enemy soldier, this oppressor, when he comes in faith. We Christians struggle with both of the same extremes with which the Jews had difficulties. When Jesus welcomes this outsider, this enemy, it reminds us of his words that we should love our enemies. It challenges us to welcome and accept people who are very different from us, people whom we might even tend to think of as enemies. Have we become self-satisfied and content to believe we are going to Heaven because we go to a Christian church, while meanwhile, we don’t care if our friends and neighbors and co-workers take the road to hell? Too many Christians seem to have this attitude. We think it is about organizational membership, rather than trust in the person, Jesus Christ.

We forget that Jesus Himself tells us to reach out and tell those who don’t know Him yet. Are you willing to tell Muslims about the grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ? What about black folks or white people? Are you ready to show God’s grace and love and forgiveness to gay people and Democrats? Or maybe your problem is with people who oppose gay marriage, or with Republicans, or members of the National Rifle Association – can you show them the love and truth of God?

But there is another side to all this, one that we must not forget. The Jewish people before 587 BC had a problem too, and it was the opposite problem. They welcomed all cultures, regardless of the Truth, regardless of their attitudes toward the One true God; and they let those cultures influence their own beliefs and their own relationship with God. This passage does not teach us that everyone is saved, regardless of their attitude to Jesus. It does not tell us to give up truth or give up the standards of the bible. Instead, it teaches us that we are all the same in our need for Jesus. The Centurion did not come to Jesus and say, “This is who I am and I’m not gonna change for you. You must accept me, but you may not change me or command me.” Instead, as we have seen, the Centurion came to Jesus in trust and humility.

Many Christians these days have difficulty accepting this. They can accept people who are different from them, and even embrace different cultures. But they have a hard time insisting that all people must repent of their sins and receive Jesus in trust. Jesus welcomed this Centurion precisely because he trusted Him in humility. If we welcome people regardless of their attitude toward Jesus, we are not helping them. If we tell people who are sinning that they are not sinning, we ourselves are distorting God’s Word and are endangering our own position of humbly trusting Jesus and what He says.

The fact is this: Love and Truth are equally important. We need to hold on to both. Love without truth is meaningless and ineffective sentiment. Truth without love is arrogant and cruel.

This incident with the Centurion challenges us to hold on to the truth that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must trust Jesus and humbly receive Him and His truth. At the same time, it also challenges us to accept anyone in the world who wants to come to Jesus with faith and humility. It encourages us to bring our burdens to Jesus with humble faith.

Listen to the Holy Spirit today as He uses this passage to speak to you.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

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A MIRACLE FOR ONCE AND ALWAYS

On August 19, 2014August 14, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon2 Comments

Jesus’ miracles also show us spiritual truth; they tell us something about Jesus, and point the way toward eternal life. He offers the same miracle to us in our souls. He is not dismayed by your sin and your failings. He knows your ugliness, but it won’t stop him. He knows your sin.The holiness of Jesus is so powerful, and his sacrifice on the cross so profound, that when we invite him in, it doesn’t make him dirty – it makes us clean.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 25

Matthew #25 . 8:1-4

When He came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his disease was healed. Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them.” (Matt 8:1-4, HCSB)

Let’s do this a little differently this week. I want you to imagine yourself into the story. Play along with me. Sometimes really getting into the sights, sounds and feelings of the bible can be very helpful. Sometimes we need to disconnect the analytical thinking for a little while in order to get at a heart-and-soul truth.

So, imagine you are a Jew living in ancient Roman Palestine. When you were twenty years old, just a year or two after you got married, you noticed some spots on your skin. They didn’t hurt, but they looked ugly and scaly and white on your olive-tinged deeply tan skin. Your spouse was very concerned (make it husband or wife, depending on your gender). You both suspected what it might be, but you both knew what it would mean if it was what you thought it was, so you waited. However, the white patches grew, and you had a little toddler and there was no way you wanted to put your child at risk. So you and your family went to the priest. The priest looked at you carefully, and then said, sternly, “You have leprosy. You are a leper. Unclean!”

You couldn’t even hug your spouse or your child goodbye. Immediately, you were banished from contact with any healthy person. That was twenty years ago now. You’ve only seen your spouse at a distance since that time. You little baby has grown into lovely woman who was married five years ago. You could not be at the wedding. You haven’t even met her husband. You don’t even know your own grandchildren.

Most of the time, you live in a kind of rough camp with other lepers. Though you can be around them, you generally avoid contact with each other, because one of you might make the other one worse. You can’t work in the fields, or raise animals because no one wants food touched by a leper. The same goes for any kind of craftsmanship. You can’t even be a common laborer, because you would be too close to healthy people. This means you are dependent upon your relatives and kind strangers. They place food and water and other necessary goods for you and the other lepers at a place several hundred yards from the camp. Sometimes people go out and beg by the roadside. They get contempt and insults about as often as they get food or some other necessary item. Money is useless, since merchants would refuse to touch coins that had been handled by a leper.

When you leave the camp, whenever you come within earshot of another person, you need to scream “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn them that a leper is near. It feels like you are swearing at yourself. Children run away when they hear it. Others back off. Sometimes adolescent boys throw stones at you, like you’re a rabid dog or something. Everyone reacts with revulsion at the sight of you. Leprosy has no cure, and it is your fate to live like this for the rest of your life.

One beautiful spring day, some rumors come into the camp about a Rabbi, Jesus, who seems to have miraculous powers. You go out into the countryside looking for him, and then you see a big group of people going up a steep, tall hill. You follow at a distance, and circle away from the people until you are behind the man, away from his followers, but you can hear him speak. What he says makes a deep impact upon you. This is no ordinary man. Desperation rises within you and combines with a tiny seed of faith.

When he leaves, you run ahead, and with your heart in your throat, you kneel on the ground and call out to him. Many lepers do this while they beg, but you call out something different. You don’t ask for food. Instead, you say “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

The sun is warm and the breeze is fresh on your diseased skin. A moment passes and seems like forever while Jesus pauses and looks at you. He doesn’t turn his face away like everyone else. There is no revulsion or disgust or contempt in his eyes. It’s something else, something your remember from long ago. It looks almost like…love; compassion. He starts walking towards you. You tremble. No healthy person has knowingly approached you for two decades.

What is he doing? He is reaching out his hand. Is he insane? You can’t help shrinking back a little. No one touches you. No one is supposed to touch you. What is he thinking? He might catch the disease himself. Even if he doesn’t, he’s going to make himself unclean, and he’ll have to go through a huge rigmarole before he can eat or associate with other people. But his hand grasps your shoulder. There are tears in his eyes.

“I do want to,” he says. “Be clean.”

He steps back a minute with a little half-smile on his face, like he’s waiting for something. You stare at him a minute, and then he jerks his head a little, as if he’s saying “take a look.” You slowly look down at your arms. They are clean and brown, with no leprosy on them anywhere you can see. You pull up your sleeves. Also clean. You turn back to Jesus, and then he is here, lifting you to your feet, hugging you, and both of you are crying and laughing at the same time. Behind Jesus, hanging back several yards, some of his followers are staring at him.

“Now go on,” he says. “Go to the priest, according to the Torah, so that you can be officially and properly welcomed back into your community. And do me a favor – don’t tell anyone that I did this.”

Now come back to yourself, but not quite all the way. Picture this – we all have a kind of leprosy called sin. It eats away at us in various ways. It separates us from God and from each other. It might help you to name a specific sin or weakness to yourself, to admit some of the things that you fail at pretty often. Picture how that sin keeps you from really being close to others. Imagine that damage it does to your soul, like the damage leprosy does to your body. Acknowledge how because of this, you are actually distant from God in some ways. You’ve tried to get rid of it, but there’s really no cure.

Now picture Jesus. If it helps, form a picture of him physically walking by. He’s the only hope of a cure. Call out to him. You know he can take care of this. Ask him directly to take care of it. Pause, as he turns to look at you. He is not disgusted or revolted. He does not turn away in contempt or fear. He sees who you are, what you are, and he keeps coming toward you. He reaches out his hand, and lays it on your head.

And now, hear his words. “I do want to make you clean. Be clean!”

And now look at your sin-riddled soul. See what Jesus sees – YOU ARE CLEAN!

Feel him lift you up, feel him hugging you, laughing in delight at you. Know his love for you. He says, “Now go and check with the Bible, and see for yourself that what I have done here is real and true. (“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” – John 15:3. Also 1 John 1:7-9, Titus 3:4-7, and many, many more!)

“Also, tell some other followers of mine about this,” he says, “so that they can help you continue in faith, and you can help them, and you all can be in close community together.”

Brothers and sisters, this is real. Jesus truly and really healed the leper. But his miracle was about so much more than that. John calls Jesus’ miracles “signs.” They are true miracles that actually happened, but their purpose was greater than simply the healing of a body that eventually died. His miracles also show us spiritual truth; they tell us something about Jesus, and point the way toward eternal life; that is one reason he did so many miracles. I believe the leper was healed of leprosy. But I also believe that this text in the bible is an invitation to us. Jesus offers the same miracle to us in our souls. He is not dismayed by your sin and your failings. He knows your ugliness, but it won’t stop him. He knows your sin. But the holiness of Jesus is so powerful, and his sacrifice on the cross so profound, that when we invite him in, it doesn’t make him dirty – it makes us clean.

Jesus looks at our condition the same way he looked at the leper. He has the power to make us clean. He is willing to make us clean. Do you want him to do it? If so, be like the leper, and ask him to. Picture Jesus physically reaching out and touching you, lifting you to your feet and embracing you. In Him, you are clean. Receive that in your soul, right now.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

WHO IS JESUS? WHAT DID HE THINK OF HIMSELF?

On August 12, 2014August 6, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon2 Comments

Most of the world seems to have an opinion about Jesus Christ. Those who aren’t Christians often view him as a good man, a great teacher or even a prophet. What is remarkable, however is that clearly, Jesus did not view Himself primarily in these ways, nor is it how He is portrayed in the Bible. In other words, what most of the world thinks about Jesus is not what Jesus thinks about Himself. These opinions about Jesus are not supported by the only records we have of his life and teaching.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 24

Matthew #24 . Matthew 7:28-29

When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law. (Matt 7:28-29, NET)

I want to return again this week to Matthew 7:13-29. We looked in detail at some of the teachings of Jesus. But there is an underlying assumption in His words that we just barely touched upon. Let me set it up, and then we’ll take look at what he said.

Most of the world seems to have an opinion about Jesus Christ. Many Jewish people, even today, view Jesus as a Rabbi – a good teacher. Islamic people consider him a prophet. Hindus and Buddhists view him as a good moral man. Mormons and Jehovah’s witnesses have more complicated and strange views, but both of those religions also have something to say about Jesus. Even many atheists today view Jesus as a good moral teacher. Some people think of him as an admirable revolutionary. Even people who call themselves Christians often seem to think of Jesus mostly as a teacher and a great moral example for us.

What is remarkable about all of this is that clearly, Jesus did not view Himself primarily in these ways, nor is it how He is portrayed in the Bible. In other words, what most of the world thinks about Jesus is not what Jesus thinks about Himself. What most of the world believes about Jesus is not supported by the only records we have of his life and teaching.

In this passage, Jesus says that the gate and road which lead to life are narrow. John records that he said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” The Greek word that Matthew uses for “road” is the same word John uses for “way.” In other words, Jesus explicitly claims to be the only way, the narrow road.

Back up now. These are not the words of a great moral teacher. The truth is, Jesus is not a good teacher unless his teaching is accurate and righteous. He is not a good moral person unless he tells the truth. And what he said about Himself is not that he was a moral man, or a prophet or a good teacher. He said he was the only way of salvation.

There have been a few people from time to time who have said that they appreciate my biblical teaching. Some people have even said I’m a good teacher. I’m grateful to hear that. But imagine if I started saying things like this:

On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’

Would I still be a good teacher if I said that? I would be implying that I will be in charge of your eternal destiny on judgment day. I would be implying that I deserve the title “Lord.” I would be implying that people will (and should) do miracles in the name of Tom Hilpert. That sort of thing does not make me a good teacher, or a moral man. Quite the opposite. That sort of talk would make me either insane, or an evil cult leader, or both.

You see, what Jesus said and implied about himself was very startling, and very controversial. If what he said about himself was not true, then it would be ridiculous to call him a good teacher.

Let’s review a few more things he said in the “sermon on the mount”:

“The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. (Matthew 5:2)” Wait a minute now. Who has the right say “the kingdom of heaven is theirs”? Jesus presumes that He has the authority to say to whom the kingdom will belong. That’s not good moral teaching. If He doesn’t have the authority to say it, it is mere arrogance and conceit.

How about this one: “If you are persecuted for my sake, you will have a great reward in heaven” (paraphrase of Matthew 5:11-12). Think on that again. To see how startling it is, imagine you said such a thing. All throughout this “great moral teaching,” Jesus assumes that He himself is the key to goodness, life and the kingdom of heaven. Who is He to say that what is inside someone’s heart (for instance, lust or hatred) is a sin? Who is He to say which person will receive a heavenly reward and which won’t?

Who is He indeed? That is the central question for every person on earth.

As I mentioned, Jesus says that on the last day, many will come to him and say “Lord, Lord…” This title of Lord is very significant. When God called Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, Moses essentially said “Who is talking to me?” God told Moses that his name is YHWH. There are no vowels in Hebrew, but it is generally pronounced “Yahweh.” This is God’s personal name, the name by which He interacts with His people throughout the Old Testament. After God instructed the Hebrew people not to take his name in vain, they began to pronounce it differently, incorporating the title “The Lord” into God’s name. (Incidentally, the result of that is the pronunciation “Jehovah.”) Many English translations today put “THE LORD” in where the Hebrew says “YHWH” because that reflects the Hebrew practice. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, finished two-hundred years before the time of Jesus, uses “kyrios” (“Lord”) for this personal name of God. Although “kyrios” can also mean “sir” or “person in authority” it is most definitely used for God’s personal name.

To sum it all up, when Jesus calls himself “Lord” (kyrios) he is claiming the name of God for himself. When the disciples call him Lord, they are doing the same thing. The phrase “Jesus is Lord” means exactly: “Jesus is Yahweh,” or “Jesus is Jehovah.”

Matthew uses the word “Lord” (kyrios) 73 times. Once, it refers to someone speaking with respect to Pontius Pilate. The other 73 times it refers to either the God of the Old Testament, or Jesus. [Sometimes it is used in parables told by Jesus, but in each case, the figure in the parable with that title represents Jesus or the Father].

So what it comes down to is this: Jesus claimed to God Himself, the personal God of the Old Testament. When we look closely at the sermon on the mount, we see that underneath all of His teachings is the presumption that this is true. We will see that presumption lies underneath everything Jesus ever said.

If Jesus isn’t who he claimed to be, in fact, the Lord, he’s either a liar, or a lunatic. What he most definitely cannot be is a just a moral man, prophet or a good teacher. C.S. Lewis put it like this:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

Just to encourage our faith, let’s consider these two other alternatives. Was Jesus a liar? Was he just pretending to be divine? People have reasons for the things they do. So what convincing reason would Jesus have to pretend to be God, even when he knew he was not? To ask it another way, what did he get out of it?

Cult leaders in this day and age often collect women for themselves and father children with dozens of their followers. They keep their followers insulated from the world around them, and set themselves up in opposition to the powers that be. So they gain sex and power over others from their lies. Many cult leaders also amass wealth, usually by getting their followers to turn over their assets to them.

Jesus did nothing like this. He did not marry even one woman. He did not gain power or wealth. He wasn’t even in charge of the finances of his little group, and there is no record of him asking anyone for money, though he did tell one person to give money to the poor (not to himself). He didn’t isolate his followers from the world around them.

Jesus turned away potential followers by the hundreds. He told many people not to speak of his miracles. He slipped away from a crowd that was ready to call him King and follow him (John 6:15). Even at his death, he continued to act as if he believed he was God (John 18:36; Luke 23:39-43). Surely, if he was deliberately lying he would have given it up before they killed him. To put it simply, from a human perspective, speaking and acting like he was God did not benefit Jesus in any discernible way. It is simply not realistic to suppose that Jesus deliberately lied when he claimed to be God. Everything he gained by pretending to be God, he gained in eternity, not this life. In other words, if it wasn’t true, he got nothing for his deception. Such a person would be utterly pathetic and pointless. But Jesus clearly acted like a man on a mission. There is nothing pathetic about him.

The second of the three alternatives is that Jesus was insane, that he truly believed he was God, but was not. We have evaluated his behavior as a liar, and found it is simply not plausible. So let me ask this. Does Jesus act like a crazy man?

Bear in mind, we aren’t talking about being “mildly unbalanced.” Consider this analogy. If I think I am the greatest writer of my generation, I am arrogant, and out of touch with reality, but it’s likely that I can still communicate lucidly, and get around in life just fine. I might need to be taken down a peg or two, but I don’t need to be institutionalized. However, if I think I am the 19^th century author Charles Dickens, that is much more removed from reality. People speaking with me would leave with the impression that there is something seriously wrong with me, and I would need significant medical intervention. Now, suppose I think I am a skunk, and I behave accordingly. I am so far removed from reality that I won’t even communicate effectively. I would be, to put it clinically, “bonkers.”

A man truly thinking he is the God of the Old Testament God is not just someone with an inflated ego. It is an even bigger break from reality than a man who thinks he is a skunk. If Jesus was wrong, he wasn’t just a few sandwiches short of a picnic – he was short the basket, the blanket and the entire outdoors.

If Jesus believed he was the Lord, and he was mistaken, his words would be the ravings of a lunatic. So I put it to you – does he sound like that to you? Does he come across like a man who thinks he is a skunk, or even a man who thinks he is a celebrity from a previous century? Are his words and ideas nonsensical?

I think anyone who has read the gospels knows that Jesus doesn’t sound or act like a lunatic. On the contrary, he seems to have a very clear grasp on human nature. His parables reveal an incisive awareness of the world around him, and how other people think and behave. He exhibits compassion and humor and even appropriate anger. Though he didn’t try to gather a large group of followers, certainly many people were drawn to him. Can you imagine large crowds following someone today who claimed to be Charles Dickens? How about someone who acted like a skunk? No, I don’t see this as a plausible alternative either.

The finally possibility – the only remaining reasonable alternative – is that Jesus is indeed Who and What He claimed to be, that is, the Lord. He was not a great teacher unless what he said is true. He was not a moral person unless his claim to be God is true. If he was a liar, he was surely the most pathetic and pointless figure in history. If he was crazy, then we are all skunks.

I bring all this up for three main reasons. First, I want to encourage you in your faith. There are many opinions about Jesus. That in and of itself should be a clue. Almost no one can manage to ignore Him. And we find out that that what Jesus says about Himself turns out to be the most reasonable and reliable alternative, though it is also undoubtedly the most remarkable one. Faith is still required. We cannot see Jesus in our day and age, but he still asks us to trust him. But perhaps the leap is not quite as far as you had thought. All things considered, it certainly sounds like Jesus was who He claimed to be.

Second, I think these things are good for us to know when we talk with others about Jesus. Again, faith is required, but reasonable investigations suggests that what we believe is quite likely to be true. It may be helpful for some of your friends, neighbors and co-workers to have the information in this sermon. It may help someone to decide to make that leap of faith. Because in the end, only two opinions about Jesus matter – His own opinion about Himself, and yours about Him. According to Jesus, eternity hinges upon those two things.

Third, I bring this up because I want make sure that in all the details and teachings, we don’t lose sight of Jesus Himself. The gospel message is about our salvation, yes. But more than that, it is about Jesus. Jesus is the focal point of all history and all creation. Our faith isn’t about ourselves, it is about Jesus Christ. Sometimes I get wrapped up in myself and how God can work in my life. But I think God prefers that I get wrapped up in Jesus, and how I fit in to His life. I need to be reminded to take my focus off myself, and put it on Jesus. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. That is the way to avoid growing weary, and losing heart. Why don’t we put that into practice right now?

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

WHY DID JESUS SAY THE WAY WAS NARROW?

On August 5, 2014August 2, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon7 Comments

Sometimes it feels hard to be a real Jesus-follower when so many others seem to get by just fine ignoring most of what he said, and even call themselves Christians while doing it. But Jesus told us right here that that is how it would be. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, it seems only right that we don’t dispute what he said.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 23

Matthew #23 . 7:12-29

Matthew 7:12 deserves honorable mention, but it isn’t my intention to preach an entire sermon on it. Jesus said:

In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. (Matt 7:12, NET)

We call this “the golden rule.” It isn’t complicated to understand, so just do it. If you have trouble doing it, ask the Holy Spirit to empower you – ask him to do it through you. There.

Now, let’s move on to verses 11-29. Jesus begins with this statement:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. (Matt 7:13-14, HCSB)

I think many Christians often forget that Jesus said this. I know I do. I get to feeling uncomfortable that I am so out of step with the culture around me, that my values are so different, or that so few people seem to have the same outlook on life. Sometimes it feels hard to be a real Jesus-follower when so many others seem to get by just fine ignoring most of what he said, and even call themselves Christians while doing it. But Jesus told us right here that that is how it would be.

John records some other words of Jesus that explain this a little bit:

So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. (John 10:7-9, HCSB)

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6, HCSB)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1John 5:11-13, HCSB)

The gate, the door, the narrow way, the life – is Jesus. If we have Jesus, we have life. If we trust Jesus alone, we are on the narrow way. If we do not have Jesus, we do not have life, and we are on the road to destruction. This is the exclusive claim that Jesus himself makes. This is what makes Christianity different from all other religions. It isn’t about earning points with God. It isn’t about bettering yourself, or peace, or making the world a better place. It is all about Jesus Christ. Some of those other things happen, but they are side effects of trusting Jesus and letting him be our king.

Claiming that Jesus Christ is the exclusive road or gate to heaven may make some people uncomfortable. But it is what Jesus himself teaches, as evidenced right here. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, it seems only right that we don’t dispute what he said.

He also said “few find the narrow road.” This is an uncomfortable statement, but obviously, Jesus said it. We should not expect the majority of people to be on the narrow road, the road to life through Jesus. On the positive side, it should not discourage us when we don’t encounter many people who have surrendered their lives to Jesus. It should also not discourage us when many other people do not understand what we believe or how we are living. As Jesus said earlier in the sermon on the mount, we are supposed to be different.

On the other hand, it should encourage us to tell others about Jesus. If He claims to be the only way (and He does), we shouldn’t be apathetic about Him, or about how others feel about Him. If we really love someone, and we really believe that Jesus is the one narrow way, the loving thing to do is to tell other people about Him,

Jesus goes on, with a related topic:

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. (Matt 7:15-20, HCSB)

First Jesus says the way is narrow. Now he adds that false prophets will come. To put it another way, not every preacher or leader who claims to speak the truth is actually doing so. Jesus gives us a way to know who is “false” and who is not. He says we should know them by their fruit.

Now, I’m afraid sometimes we Christians forget what the Bible actually calls fruit. Spiritual fruit does not mean “outwardly successful.” Sometimes following Jesus brings outward success, sometimes it does not. Fruit does not mean “something that works.” We can’t say, “Hey I did what this preacher said, and it works for me, so he must be from God.” The bible is actually quite clear about spiritual fruit. First, good spiritual fruit comes only from staying connected to Jesus:

Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. (John 15:4, HCSB)

There are many verses talking variously about the fruit of righteousness or of peace or good works. There are many other verses talking about “fruitless” behavior. Galatians 5:22-23 pulls it all together for us:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance — as I told you before — that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:19-23, HCSB)

Fruit is found in these spiritual qualities, manifested in connection with Jesus Christ: love, joy, peace patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Galatians passage also lists “the works of the flesh.” We can discern if someone is a false teacher or not by examining whether or not the fruit of the spirit is present and growing, or whether or not the works of the flesh are present and increasing. We can also know them by their attitude toward Jesus Christ. Jesus said we can’t produce fruit apart from him, so if someone appears to be loving and peaceful on the outside, but denies Jesus or His words, we know that person is also not from God.

But then, Jesus adds this sobering thought:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! ’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’ (Matt 7:21-23, HCSB)

First, this confirms what we said above – true spiritual fruit does not consist in the achievement of great deeds, or outward success. Prophesying in Jesus’ names and even exorcisms and miracles do not mean that a person is from God.

I once met a woman on a plane who worked a conference for a famous Christian healer. I know people who have been healed and delivered at his events. Even so, I have heard him preach on television, and it didn’t sound right to me. What this woman told me, along with the preaching I had heard, suggests to me that this man may be a false teacher, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Yes, he has healed people and performed miracles in Jesus name. But according to this passage, that does not necessarily mean that he actually knows Jesus and has surrendered his life to Him.

You may wonder, how can this be? Actually, there are a number of places where the bible teaches that miracles can be done by false prophets and those who would lead people astray. The magicians of Pharaoh’s court duplicated Moses’ first few miracles, in Exodus chapters seven and eight. A slave-girl at Philippi prophesied through the power of a demon (Acts 16:16). Jesus himself reiterated this later on, as recorded by Matthew:

False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note: I have told you in advance. (Matt 24:24-25, HCSB)

Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, also taught this same thing:

The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. (2Thess 2:9-10, HCSB)

In some ways, it is in the book of Deuteronomy that we hear mostly clearly how to evaluate false miracles:

“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’ do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul. You must follow the LORD your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful to Him. (Deut 13:1-4, HCSB)

The fruit of the Spirit is important in evaluating false prophets. So is the truth. No matter what kind of miracles someone works, if what they are teaching goes against the truth of God’s Word (the Bible) then we consider them to be false teachers who work miracles either through trickery or demonic power.

I have a friend who really doesn’t like this verse about people who said they did all kinds of things in Jesus’ name. He worries that maybe he’s one of the people doing that. You may have the same fear. I have a few responses. First, I hope you can see now that this is connected to the business of false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing. In other words, it is partially about understanding the things I have just laid out in the previous few paragraphs. Second, I think the whole passage is all about knowing Jesus. The gate is Jesus. The road is Jesus. The way is Jesus. The life is Jesus. And Jesus is a person. So the way to have the life, the gate, the road etc is to “have” Jesus.

I’ve used this analogy before, but it’s like marriage. I’m married. That means I “have” a spouse. What “having” a husband or wife means is that you have a certain kind of relationship with that other person, a relationship that is not like any of your other relationships. In the same way “having” Jesus means you have a relationship with him. It is unlike any of your other relationships. It requires a lot of trust on your part, because you can’t see him or feel him physically.

Suppose I get married. I go through the ceremony with my wife, consummate the relationship, and then leave her. Maybe every few years I find my wife again, and spend a long weekend with her. But on a regular basis, I don’t live with her. I don’t interact her. In fact, I almost never act like a real husband. If that were the case, would our wedding really mean anything? Could you really say I am a husband?

Now, imagine that after a lifetime like this, when we are old, I find out that she has inherited a huge amount of money. I find her in a big, beautiful new house, and say, “OK honey, I’m ready to share my life with you. Let’s take a trip around the world, and maybe buy a private island.”

Wouldn’t such a husband be thoroughly despicable? Wouldn’t the woman have every right to say: “Forget it. You’ve never been a true husband. You’ve had nothing to do with me for years. You come back and use me when it suits you, but you’ve never wanted to even live with me. You think you can just waltz in her, now that I am wealthy, and have whatever you want? No way.”

Too many people treat Jesus like that despicable husband. Doing things “in his name” is not the same thing as having a relationship with the Person, Jesus Christ. The relationship starts with trusting Him and letting Him be the King of our lives. In other words, how you live and what you do should be directed by Jesus, starting with what He says through the Bible. That’s what Jesus is saying here. If you get baptized as a baby, and later confirmed in the church, but have nothing to do with Jesus afterwards, you are not in a relationship with Jesus. You are not his follower. If you “get saved” in church, and baptized, and then afterwards have nothing to do with Jesus, you are not his follower. You are in danger of being someone who says “But Lord, I got baptized in your name. I got saved, and said a prayer in your name!” And Jesus might reply: “But you never knew me. You never trusted me, you never obeyed what I said.”

You see, we are not called to be just converts, or church-goers. We are called to be disciples – people who trust Jesus and increasingly seek to let him work in and through us. Jesus makes it clear that we should also be people who seek to trust and obey what he says. The whole bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit. So when we seek to trust and obey, it isn’t just the “words in red,” the words of Jesus. It is the whole bible.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great! ” (Matt 7:24-27, HCSB)

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

DO YOU REALLY RECEIVE WHEN YOU ASK?

On July 29, 2014July 25, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

The reasons for not receiving what we have asked for in prayer are real and legitimate. Sometimes we become discouraged because we aren’t able to see the entire picture, just as our children are sometimes disappointed with our answers to their requests, even when our answer is good for them. But Jesus does promise a good response from our heavenly Father, and we can rely on that!

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part

Matthew #22 . Chapter 7:7-11

There are many parts of the Sermon on the Mount that are challenging in many ways. Jesus’ standards for morality are challenging. Words like “Blessed are you when men cast insults at you and persecute you,” are not easy to digest. But the words of Matthew 7:7-11 are difficult in another way. They are wonderful words, gracious words. The difficulty is they seem almost too good to be true. Let’s take a look.

“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matt 7:7-11, HCSB)

The truth is, brothers and sisters, this is just plain good news. We have a Father in heaven who loves us. He is the Creator of the universe, the one true Supreme Being, and he cares about you. He loves you more perfectly than you love your own children. And he wants to give you good gifts. He wants to answer your prayers.

There isn’t much that this particular passage needs by way of explanation. It says exactly what it seems to say – that God loves you, and he will answer your prayers in accordance with his love for you.

But I (and I assume others) sometimes have a difficult time with this passage, because so often it appears that God is not answering our prayers. Sometimes the gift doesn’t seem to come, that which is sought is never found and the door is not opened. Why does this happen at times? Can we really rely on Jesus’ words?

The answer is yes. The reasons for our experience of what we call “unanswered prayer” are several, but I believe is starts with God’s desire to answer us by giving us “good gifts” (NIV), or “that which is good” (NAS).

Jesus makes the comparison to earthly parents, so let’s start there. Sometimes my children ask me for things that are not good, or things that are good only in small measure. Candy is a great example. It sure feels good going down, and a little bit of it is fine, but too much of it is bad. When my kids were young, and they asked for candy when they had already had as much as was good for them, I said no. Now, even though my answer to their request is negative, that “no” is a good gift to my children – it protects them, and keep them healthy. I am giving them something good in response to their request, even though it wasn’t what they wanted. God deals with us the same way. So we need to understand that sometimes the good gift God gives is the answer of “no” to our prayers.

Sometimes the problem with candy is the timing. Maybe my kids haven’t had any sweets all day, and they ask for candy right before supper. Even though they haven’t had any candy yet, I will say no, because to give it to them now would prevent them from receiving the healthy nutrients I’m going to give them for supper in just a few minutes. Again, it is this way with the Lord. At times we may not see that he is withholding one request in order to grant another, after which he can also give us the first request.

Another issue that sometimes comes up is capacity. When they were little, and we lived in the city with a yard about the size of a pickup truck, the kids wanted a Saint Bernard dog. I knew, however, that neither they nor our yard had the capacity to deal with that gift at that time. There was simply not enough space for dog like that and our kids were not yet responsible enough to take care of it by themselves; I also had serious questions about how much it would cost to feed a Saint Bernard. So the answer was “no” for that time. I felt that as their capacity to handle the gift increased, hopefully the answer could become “yes.” In the same way, we often pray for good things that are beyond our capacity to handle. Perhaps we want fame or fortune when our character is not yet equipped to deal with it. Fame and fortune have destroyed many a soul. Maybe we want to be married, but we aren’t emotionally or spiritually ready for it; perhaps we want to own a business or get a promotion that would end up sucking up so much time and energy that we would drift away from God. Maybe we want a job that we would only end up losing because we aren’t really capable yet of doing it.

Think of God as an all-wise bartender. One person asks for a drink, and the Bartender gladly serves her. Another asks, and the Bartender won’t serve him, because even one drink would make him drunk. Another can handle one drink, but once she starts, she won’t quit until she’s feeling the buzz, and she has no one to give her a ride home; the Bartender refuses her also. Another has already had a drink or two, and Bartender won’t serve him, because he’s had enough already. People drinking in a bar are rarely good judges of their own capacity for alcohol. Sometimes we are also poor judges of what we really need from God, and whether we can really handle what we are asking for.

Not even Jesus’ first disciples always knew what they were asking for:

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Him and said, “Teacher, we want You to do something for us if we ask You.” “What do you want Me to do for you? ” He asked them. They answered Him, “Allow us to sit at Your right and at Your left in Your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? ” (Mark 10:35-38, HCSB)

They thought they were asking for glory; Jesus knew that what they were asking for meant incredible suffering for them. Sometimes the greatest good God can give us is to answer us with a “no” or a “not yet.”

Another possibility with unanswered prayer is that what you are asking God for is not good at all. Believe it or not, there are people who ask God to aid or support their sinful lifestyles, and then become bitter when he doesn’t. A classic example of this is the Indigo Girls song Hey Jesus. In the song, a woman is praying to Jesus that her unmarried live-in lover doesn’t leave her. She becomes bitter toward God when the prayer is not answered the way she wants it to be. But you might as well not pray if you are asking God to help you sin. This goes along with what James says in James 4:3

“When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Also, the apostle John writes:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” (I John 5:14-15)

Obviously, if we want God to help us sin, that is not according his will. On the other side, John is saying, “If your prayer falls within Biblical guidelines of what God desires, you can be sure that he pays attention to it.” Prayers which are within God’s general will, as revealed in the Bible, will be answered with something good (remember, “no” or “not now” can be as much of a good answer as “yes.”)

One more reason we may not receive the good thing we have asked for is because it involves another person’s choice to reject God. When our prayers involve the decisions of other people (for example, suppose you are praying for someone to come to know Jesus) we ought to remember that the Lord still gives people the option to say “no” to him. God chooses not to force people to do what he wants; he wants our love to be real, and so we all have the freedom to choose. In other words, sometimes you cannot find what you seek because someone else has chosen to ignore God.

There is a final issue that is part of the difficulty of Matthew 7:7-11. James identifies it when he writes:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:5-8)

The truth is, “ask and you shall receive” is very simple, direct and gracious. But often we have a hard time believing it. The very fact that we don’t believe it prevents us from taking advantage of this promise. We don’t believe it, so we don’t really ask in faith or expectation, if we even ask at all. And since we don’t ask in faith and expectation, we don’t receive what we ask for. And since we don’t receive what we ask for, we feel that our lack of faith has been justified, so we have even less faith next time we ask. It is a vicious cycle of unbelief. Often we enter into this cycle because our starting point is skepticism. We read Matthew 7:7-11 and our first response is: “I’m not so sure about that. Prove it God!” And because that is our starting point, we don’t give God a chance to really prove it, because we aren’t really praying with the faith that he is good and that he answers prayers to our benefit. It comes down simply to faith. God said it, do we believe it?

These reasons for not receiving what we have asked for in prayer are real and legitimate. Sometimes we become discouraged because we aren’t able to see the entire picture, just as our children are sometimes disappointed with our answers to their requests, even when our answer is good for them. But I think that the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) captures an important part of what Jesus says. The Greek verbs “ask, seek and knock” are each in the present tense, active voice and imperative mood. That’s why I think the HCSB has it best, because it translates it: “keep asking, keep searching, keep knocking.” To capture the imperative mood, we might even put an exclamation point after each phrase: Keep on asking! Keep on searching! Keep on knocking!

Yes, there are times, when because God is a good Father, his answer will be “no” or “wait.” But clearly, Jesus wants us to understand that many times God will answer “Yes!” or “Of course! I’d love to!” God really does want us to come to Him with our requests. And He delights to respond to them with good things even more than we delight to give our children good things. The Father wants us to keep on coming to Him, keep on searching, keeping on knocking.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

TREASURING WHAT IS MOST VALUABLE

On July 22, 2014July 18, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

When we store treasure for ourselves in this life, we are setting ourselves up for major disappointment. The relationships we cherish so much won’t ever be all that we want them to be. We are very unlikely to achieve the success and accolades we desire. Financial security escapes all but a few. Death takes every single person. We can’t count on our dreams here. Even those dreams which are fulfilled are still missing some indefinable thing that leaves us with lingering doubt and emptiness.

I think sometimes one reason we get so angry and disappointed with God is that we want to have it all in this life. But the Lord never promises we will have it all (or, necessarily any of “it”) here in this life.

The answer is not in this life. Our mistake is to seek it here. But the call for Christians is to keep our focus on real treasure.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 20.5

Matthew #20.5 Matthew 6:19-21

In our church last week, someone suggested that it would be a good idea to dwell a little bit more on what our treasure in Heaven will be. It’s hard to focus on something, to aim your life at something, when you only have a vague idea of what it is. So, I’m going to go back from where we are in the text, and re-visit Matthew 6:19-21. Jesus said:

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21, HCSB)

Prior to this, Jesus was talking about how our Heavenly Father will reward us, and we should seek that reward, rather than the praise of other people. So, what is heavenly treasure? What is heavenly reward?

So often, we don’t really believe that our real treasure is in Heaven. We are still looking for it on earth. So our eternal future does not figure very much in our day to day plans and decisions.

For Most Christians, heaven is a backup plan. Our primary work is finding a life we can at least get a little pleasure from here. Heaven is an investment we’ve made, like Treasury bonds, or a retirement account, which we we’re hoping will take care of us in the future sometime, but which we do not give much thought to at present. (John Eldredge, Desire, chapter 6).

Part of the difficulty about heaven is that we’ve never been there. Even those Christians who have had death-experiences and returned, have not really been to heaven, but only to the entrance of the afterlife, so to speak, and we cannot give their experiences the same kind of authority that we give to the Bible; and yet the Bible doesn’t seem to have very many specifics. However, the Bible does give us some big-picture ideas about eternity for those who are in Jesus.

First, when the bible talks about “eternal life” the Greek word for life is a special one: zoe. Jesus said that whoever trusts in Him will have zoe (John 3:15). It means much more than just “live forever.” Zoe means not only life that is indestructible, that lasts forever, but also a certain higher quality of life, better life. John says we have zoe when we trust Jesus:

The one who has the Son has zoe. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have zoe. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal zoe. (1John 5:12-13, HCSB I have substituted the Greek word for the English, where it occurs)

This is important. If by eternal life we meant just a long life exactly as we have known it, that sounds a little daunting. This life leaves a lot to be desired, and extending it forever would not fix most of the problems we have. If eternal life was just more of this life, we would continue to struggle with broken relationships. We would still face unfulfilled desires (only now, for eternity). We would go on being disappointed by others, and ourselves, and not finding as much joy as we think we should from getting what we think we want. We might go on struggling with finances, and with worry, and with feeling insecure, and unattractive. Continuing to live this life forever sounds more like a punishment than a blessing.

Thankfully, the Bible promises not more of the same, but rather, something different; eternal zoe. Our eternal life will be of a different, better quality. In the first place, we will have new bodies. Many Christians don’t realize this. The promise of eternal life is not some ghost-existence where we float around like disembodied spirits. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that we will have bodies, but that they will be different in important ways from our present bodies.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come? ” Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it a body as He wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. (1Cor 15:35-38, HCSB)

We are like seeds, sitting in a seed packet, wondering what happens after we are planted, but having no point of reference. Back when I thought I could grow a garden, I planted some zucchini squash. The seeds are smooth and flat, roughly the size of a fingernail, but oval shaped. There is kind of beveled border all around the edge of the seed. The seed is cream colored. Now, that seed is pure zucchini. There is nothing in the seed that is anything other than zucchini. It contains every part of the DNA of a full zucchini plant. And yet, the seed is nothing at all like the whole plant – in fact it isn’t even very much like the zucchini squash. The plant is green. It grows to over two feet tall, and more than four feet around of spreading green stalks and leaves. The flowers are long and yellow or orange. The zucchini “fruit” is a foot long or more, with white flesh and dark green skin.

The seeds do not change their essential nature, and yet they are destroyed in order for the plant to grow. The DNA of the grown plant is the same as the DNA of the seed that dies to produce the plant. Yet the plant is so much more than the seed. And no matter how long you took, you would never be able to imagine the plant merely from examining the seed.

So it will be with our new bodies. They will be fully us, and yet very different from how we are at the moment. They will not experience disease or pain or death.

Our new bodies will have a new creation to inhabit. Paul writes that all of creation was “subjected to futility.” That creation will be redeemed when we ourselves are finally resurrected into eternal zoe with our new bodies:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to futility — not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it — in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits — we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. (Rom 8:18-25, HCSB)

John writes about his vision of the end of the universe as we know it:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. (Rev 21:1, HCSB)

This world is a beautiful place still. As I type this, I can see three pictures on my wall, all of them taken by me while traveling. One is a sunset scene on the Gulf of Mexico.

Another is from a mountainside in Northern California, overlooking meadows, forests and the ocean. The third is a majestic and stunning view of Mount Hood in Oregon, clad in winter white, draped with dark green fir forests. I love these places, and many more equally beautiful, but different parts of the world. And yet, the beach on the Gulf was only recently threatened by a massive oil spill. Just a few miles from my Northern California scene, the city of San Francisco spreads asphalt over the beautiful land, and belches smog above the bay. The north side of Mount Hood has been artificially protected from fire, and the forests there are now filled with dead wood, and primed to go up in smoke across half the mountain. Even if they don’t, Hood is a volcano that could someday erupt, and turn the beautiful scenery into smoking slag rock.

And let’s be honest. In Gulf lurk bull sharks and stingrays that threaten our enjoyments, and at times even our lives. The mountainsides are gorgeous, but a fall, or an avalanche, or a falling tree, or a snake, or a cougar, or a bear, or just getting lost could kill us easily. Even if we don’t die, we can experience discomfort from insect-bites, illness from drinking untreated water and hunger if we can find no food. Our world is beautiful, but it is also still very imperfect and unsafe.

As beautiful as our world is, it is subject to futility. It is not eternal. It is not perfect. It is fragile, and even often unsafe for us. But the promise of the Bible is that we will get a new world, even more beautiful, one that is redeemed and perfected along with us. We can swim in beautiful waters with no fear of sharks. We can wander in the wilderness with no discomfort from mosquitoes, no fear of hunger or wildlife. This is indeed a treasure to look forward to.

John also says this about the new creation to come:

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. (Rev 21:3-6, HCSB)

Our eternal zoe-life will be free from death, grief, and pain. Every time you experience grief, or emotional pain, or physical pain, or sorrow, use it to remind yourself of the treasure that awaits you in the New Creation.

In eternal life, we will be reunited with everyone else who has trusted in Jesus and died with faith in Him. A day will come when we see those who have gone before us. Death does not have to be forever. Pause for a minute, and think of those you have lost in this life who are waiting for you now in eternal life. These loved ones are a very great treasure for us. In Jesus, all goodbyes are temporary.

I think one of the clues to our treasure in heaven is the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve sinned. They lived in perfect health in a beautiful place, at harmony with nature. Most especially, Adam and Eve lived in complete vulnerability and intimacy with God and with each other. In their intimacy and vulnerability, there was no shame, no danger, no hurt or disappointment. In many ways, the Bible hints that the New Creation will be like the Garden of Eden – only better, and without the snake. Our relationships with God and with each other will be healed and whole and open and joyful and fun.

Sometimes we might think heaven will be boring. Isn’t it just one long worship service? I don’t think so. I think the worship takes place in many ways. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had work to do. It wasn’t toilsome – it was joyful. They found fulfillment in doing what they loved to do, and they found that it all came together as they lived according to their purpose. Here on earth, when you try to live for your purpose, it is usually a struggle. Others don’t care about your purpose. It’s hard to make a living doing what you were created to do. Many don’t appreciate the gifts and unique person that God made you to be. But in heaven, our yearning to be significant and our drive to do certain things we love will be fulfilled, not removed. Jesus, in the parable of the talents, describes the Master giving the faithful servants responsibilities and goals that are suited to them. You won’t be bored. You will finally get to do what you were created to do, with no hindrance or frustration.

John Eldredge writes about the eternal life to come for those who trust Jesus. He suggests that maybe one reason we don’t put our treasure in heaven is because we have incorrect expectations of it.

How can the church service that never ends be more desirable than the richest experiences of life here? It would be no small difference if you knew in your heart that the life you prize is just around the corner, that your deepest desires have been whispering to you all along about what’s coming. (John Eldredge, Desire, chapter 7 emphasis mine).

I think Eldredge is on to something. It is true, we can have sinful desires, and these will not find fulfillment in heaven. But our longing for closeness with God and with other people, our desire to be significant and to accomplish something worthwhile, our yearning for beauty and refreshment – all these are little signposts here on earth, pointing toward the eternal treasure that is waiting for us when God renews the heavens and the earth.

Let me give you one surprising example. Many people love the experience of sexual intimacy. At times, it feels almost necessary. That desire is really much more than physical. It is a desire to be close to another person, to be almost “immersed” in the one you love. Sexual desire is a pull to experience the beauty of another person fully, and to be known yourself fully. Of course, on earth, it gets distorted and twisted into all sorts of lesser things, sometimes very ugly and sinful things. But the desire itself is not wrong, and I believe that desire for intimacy and beauty and safe vulnerability will be fulfilled in heaven in a far greater way than it ever can be on earth. If you died without ever having sex in this life, you have not missed out – the real thing, the thing that sex is merely a shadow of – that is waiting for us in heaven, and it is better than what we call sex.

All of the things we love here on earth, and the things that desire most deeply are mere copies and shadows of the reality that is to come.

Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah. (Col 2:16-17, HCSB)

These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. (Heb 8:5, HCSB)

Even our sinful desires are often just a distortion and deception of something that began as a righteous desire for the heavenly reality. The point is this: one of the great treasures of heaven is that the true deep desires of our soul will be fulfilled. God created us with yearning for heaven. Sin and the devil have distorted and confused the yearning, but they haven’t eliminated it. To put it another way, in heaven is what you truly want. Heaven contains what you’ve been trying to find, trying to achieve all these years, and even more. If that is not something to treasure, I don’t know what is.

When I was in High School, some of the kids acted as if High School was all there was. They immersed themselves in becoming sports stars and prom queens and part of the “in” clique. These folks didn’t want to be “losers,” but they were quite free in calling others by that name. Many of them achieved their High School dreams. But when they graduated, and High School was over, it was almost as if they were surprised. They were lost, and it took some of them a long time to realize that High School is only one very short part of life, and not the most important part, either. Some of these “popular” ended up as “losers” in real life.

Brothers and sisters, this is High School. This isn’t real life. What we have here, what we treasure, is just a shadow of the real thing. What everyone seems to chase after is shallow and it doesn’t last – it isn’t real treasure. You’ve heard the saying “there are no dress-rehearsals; this is real life.” I beg to differ. This is the dress rehearsal. Real life hasn’t even started yet.

So many of us don’t want to acknowledge this. We keep pursuing things that don’t last, things that don’t matter. We keep storing up treasure that we can’t take with us and focusing on what is meaningless. Isaiah wrote about such people:

You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say ‘it is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, so that you would not faint. (Isaiah 57:10).

He was talking to people who would not give up trying to get what they wanted in this life, people who wouldn’t trust that God had something better for them in eternity.

When we store treasure for ourselves in this life, we are setting ourselves up for major disappointment. The relationships we cherish so much won’t ever be all that we want them to be. We are very unlikely to achieve the success and accolades we desire. Financial security escapes all but a few. Death takes every single person. Some die too young, and others wish they could die sooner, but it comes to every single human being. We can’t count on our dreams here. Even those dreams which are fulfilled are still missing some indefinable thing that leaves us with lingering doubt and emptiness.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV2011)

David writes it like this:

Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years. Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow; indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away. (Ps 90:10, HCSB)

The answer is not in this life. Our mistake is to seek it here. But the call for Christians is to keep our focus on real treasure, real zoe-life:

Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1Pet 1:13, HCSB)

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Col 3:1-4, HCSB)

Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. Put your treasure in heaven. Keep your life aimed toward real life, eternal life, not this temporary thing. Let your hope be not for this life, but for heaven. Don’t seek just for a comfortable eighty years passing the time on earth, but for an eternity of abundant better life. Store up your hope and treasure for heaven.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

“DO NOT JUDGE”: ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST MISUSED BIBLE VERSES.

On July 15, 2014July 11, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon2 Comments

It has never made sense to me to try and get people who do not trust Jesus to live according to His teachings. Many Christians condemn where they should not, and fail to correct where they should.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 21

Matthew #21 . Matthew 7:1-6

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. (Matt 7:1-6, HCSB)

Matthew 7:1-5 has probably been one of the most misused, misunderstood passages in the Bible during my lifetime. Let me give you a few examples of how it is used wrongly.

· Suppose a friend of mine claims to be a Christian, but he watches pornographic movies and visits nude-bars. He sees nothing wrong with doing these things. I might say to him, “You claim to follow Jesus. But the lust in your heart is something wrong, Jesus died to make it right. You shouldn’t continue to feed your lust that way. Jesus is calling you to repent.” He replies to me (quoting the bible) “Jesus said, ‘Don’t judge others!’”

· Suppose someone else says, “I’m a Christian, and I don’t believe sex is wrong for gay people or unmarried people.” I might direct the person to Ephesians 5:1-5; Colossians 3:5-7; Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 7:8-9; 1 Timothy 1:10 and Romans 1:26-27. Their response is “Well, Jesus said, ‘Don’t Judge!’”

“Don’t Judge” has become a kind of rallying cry for many Christians who are ignorant about what the Bible teaches. They use it against anyone who ever dares to suggest that their actions might not be what Jesus wants from them.

It has also become a stock-response for people who are not Christians at all. If a Christian suggests in a public forum that any activity is immoral, or even harmful, we are quickly silenced with “Jesus said, ‘do not judge.’” In fact “judging” or “intolerance” has become one of the only things that our society as a whole is willing to call an evil thing. Why non-Christians care that Jesus said ‘do not judge,’ I have no idea. I suspect they don’t, and are only looking for a chance to accuse us of hypocrisy.

So how do we respond to these things? Remember, the entire New Testament – including the words of Jesus – comes to us through the teaching and writing of the apostles. We Christians believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the apostles to remember and record the words of Jesus. We believe equally that the Spirit inspired them to write down the other teachings found in the New Testament also. To put it another way, the teaching of Jesus is the teaching of the apostles, as the Holy Spirit inspired them to remember and write. So let’s look at what the Holy Spirit has to say about holding on to the truth, and telling others the truth:

“If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. (Matt 18:15-17, HCSB) [This one was said by Jesus, by the way, later on in this very same book written by Matthew]

Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will also be afraid. I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism. (1Tim 5:19-21, HCSB)

I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of His appearing and His kingdom: Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. (2Tim 4:1-2, HCSB)

There are many more verses like those I have listed here. Jesus Himself, just a few minutes before saying this, was telling his disciples to avoid being like the Pagans and the Pharisees. Before that, he told them to avoid all kinds of different sins. Obviously then, “do not judge” should not prevent us from speaking the truth in love and gently correcting Christians who stray. It does not mean we cannot call something “sin” when the Bible calls it sin. It should not prevent us from having moral standards, or believing in certain absolute truths. It doesn’t mean we should never be discerning, or use our critical thinking. Paul describes it like this:

For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession, eager to do good works. Say these things, and encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. (Titus 2:11-15, HCSB)

But also obviously, Jesus did mean something by his statement. What was it? For “judge,” Jesus uses the word “krino.” It is a common word, used in ninety-seven different verses of the New Testament. Sometimes it simply means “to firmly decide.” More often it means something like “official judgment.” It is used frequently to describe God judging the world, or Jesus judging at the end-times. In these contexts, it might equally suggest condemnation. It is used many times for “sitting in judgment” as an official government magistrate does, or a court of law. At times, this words is clearly used to mean “condemn.”

I think when we consider all that New Testament has to say on this matter, I think there are three important aspects of Jesus’ command: “do not judge.” First, we should not condemn other people. We can say that something is wrong without condemning the person who is doing it. The approach I usually take is something like this: “Look, I want to make sure you know what the Bible says about this. What you do about what the Bible says is not my call. I’m telling you what I know of the Bible, and the rest is between you and God.”

The second aspect of not judging is that we should not set ourselves up in the place of God. It isn’t our place to decide someone’s eternal fate. It is our place to say what the Bible says. But we need to stop there. Saying what the Bible says is not the same as condemning someone. The Bible may say a particular behavior is sinful. If we pass that information along – with the goal of helping our fellow Christians – then we have not set ourselves up as judges. We are only saying what the Bible already says. What the other person does about it is between them and God. We need to bear in mind that we are not the authorities here – God is the one true judge.

Third, Jesus was talking to people in culture of First Century Judaism. The people in that culture, particularly the religious leaders, were prone to call out others and sit in judgment over them for things that were not even sins in the eyes of God. For example, they made up their own rules about the Sabbath, and then judged people for not obeying them. Understanding that context, I think we can safely say that Jesus is also telling us not to judge one another over things that are not in the Bible, or over man-man regulations. Once again, we have other passages in the New Testament that explain this:

Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about doubtful issues. One person believes he may eat anything, but one who is weak eats only vegetables. One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not criticize one who does, because God has accepted him.

Who are you to criticize another’s household slave? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand. For the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person considers one day to be above another day. Someone else considers every day to be the same. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, yet he thanks God.

For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and came to life for this: that He might rule over both the dead and the living.

But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before the tribunal of God. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will give praise to God. So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us no longer criticize one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother’s way. (Rom 14:1-13, HCSB)

So the Holy Spirit is saying, through Jesus and through Paul, “There are some issues that should not be issues. Don’t sit in judgment or condemnation over each other. Especially, don’t get into fights about things that are not actually commanded or forbidden in scripture.”

I know someone who was in a church where they condemned you for wearing blue jeans. I’ve been judged and criticized for not being the kind of pastor that some people expected me to be. When I sat down with my critics, I learned that what they were upset about had nothing to do with what the Bible says pastors should be like, or do. Sometimes people are judged for the music they like, or what they wear, or for drinking a glass of wine with dinner.

The Bible does have certain standards of Christ-like behavior, including moral standards. Jesus is not telling us to ignore those, or throw them out, but rather to approach each other in gentleness and humility about those things. And there is also lot of freedom in how we live out and express our faith. Jesus is telling us not to judge each other at all in these areas of freedom.

Jesus did not only say: “do not judge.” He had more to say on the whole subject. Jesus actually says we should examine ourselves first, and then we will be able to help someone else who has a problem. He says we should recognize that the same standards apply to us, as well as the other person. In other words, when there is an issue of Biblical morality or false teaching, we need to be humble, and recognize our own faults before we approach someone else to help them with their problem. But Jesus’ words here (in context) assume that we should still approach the person, once we are appropriately humble. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to flesh it out like this:

Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal 6:1-2, HCSB)

We are not to approach each other in condemnation. We are not to set ourselves up as judge in God’s place. We are to be humble, to let our own lives be under the authority of God’s Word (the Bible) and then – only then – in gentleness, with the goal of helping fellow-Christians, we can approach someone else about a sin.

Jesus’ last sentence in this section seems a little strange. He says:

Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

Make no mistake, this is also about judging others. I think what he is saying is that we should not waste time trying to bring grace-filled correction to people who are not humble or open enough to receive it. Proverbs says:

The one who corrects a mocker will bring dishonor on himself; the one who rebukes a wicked man will get hurt. Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. (Prov 9:7-8, HCSB)

In other words, we don’t take the log out of our own eye, and then graciously approach someone who isn’t even a follower of Jesus and try to help them stop sinning. When we share the truth about Jesus, the good news, of course we talk about how our sins have separated us from God and from each other. But our goal in sharing the good news is not really to get people to just quit sinning. It is to exhort people turn to Jesus for grace, forgiveness and help.

Look at it this way. Suppose you have a friend who is not a Christian, who gets drunk all the time. Your friend is sinning, and, according to the bible she will go to hell because she has not trusted in Jesus who call Himself the only Way, Truth and Life. Now, suppose you convince her that it is a sin to get drunk, and she stops doing it. She is now not sinning in that way, and yet she will still go to hell because she still isn’t trusting in Jesus. All your efforts to get her to stop sinning have not helped her at all spiritually.

Not only that, but it has never made sense to me to try and get people who do not trust Jesus to live according to Jesus’ teaching. Suppose one of my Muslim friends came to me and said, “Tom, you need to stop eating pork. According to the Koran, it is a sin to eat pork.”

I would say, politely, “I don’t follow the Koran. I don’t believe what it says. It doesn’t matter to me what it says about pork.”

But too many Christians try to get people who don’t even trust Jesus to follow what the Bible teaches. Jesus is saying here, “Don’t bother. There’s no point to it. It’s like feeding dogs a gourmet meal, or dressing pigs up with pearls. It’s a waste of time and effort, and the precious truth of God’s word will be trampled in the mud.”

I don’t think he means that we should view unbelievers like dogs or pigs. He’s just saying, trying to bring correction to people who do not believe is silly and pointless.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this subject:

I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves. (1Cor 5:9-13, HCSB emphasis mine)

So, I actually have no moral problem with people who do not claim to be Christians, and live in sin. They are morally consistent. In fact, I would find it surprising if they refrained from sin even while they do not trust Jesus. Now, of course, I pray for such people to turn to Jesus. I pray that they see the futility of their lives without him. I pray that they fully experience how their sin separates them from God and from each other, and become desperate for the forgiveness and grace they can have in Him alone. But I’m not interested in making them clean up their lives first. I’ll let the Holy Spirit do that, once they have put their trust in Jesus.

On the other hand, if someone claims to be a believer, and yet persists in an ongoing pattern of sin, I will examine myself, and then humbly, gently try to remind them what the Bible says. Paul says (inspired by the Holy Spirit) to let them know they are no longer acting like believers. Even so we are supposed to do this without condemning, and without putting ourselves in God’s place, as if we are the ones who get to decide their fate.

This is a nuanced teaching. We are to try and bring correction to fellow believers (not outsiders) when they stray from what the Bible teaches. But we do so humbly and gently, and not judgmentally. We bring correction by reminding them what the Bible says; we are not supposed to bring judgment and condemnation. And we don’t even do that with those who are not Christians. In addition, we are not to bring any kind of judgment at all in areas where the Bible gives us freedom.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you about this subject right now.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

MONEY & GOD: WHERE IS YOUR HEART FOCUSED?

On July 8, 2014July 4, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

The world is full of Christians who are trying precisely to serve both God and money. So many of us think we can have it both ways. We have deceived ourselves in this area.

If you are going to stop serving money, you have to stop worrying about it, and instead, start trusting God to give you and your family what you need.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 20

Matthew #20 . Chapter 6:21-34

Jesus has just finished instructing his disciples – that includes us, today – to avoid acting religious in order to win praise and admiration from other people. We should, give, pray and fast in order to grow closer to God. He concludes this section, and transitions to the next one with these words:

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If we seek after the praise of other people, we are seeking an earthly “treasure.” Praise and admiration from others does not last. It’s almost like a drug. You are never satisfied – you keep needing more. People can forget about you. They can change their opinions about you. People who admire you can even die, without being replaced by new admirers. The praise of others is a quickly decaying treasure.

Now, let’s talk about the word “treasure.” The Greek word for treasure, or treasury is “thesauros” which instantly brings a smile and a nod to any writer; we know that words are a treasure. But actually, this word does not mean anything like “dictionary of words with similar meanings.” It refers to storing things up by keeping them someplace that is supposed to be safe. You put what you most want to preserve and protect and own in a thesauros. Jesus says, your treasury, your fire-proof safe, should be in heaven. If you are working to acquire, save and protect things here on earth, then your focus will be here, not heaven. Not only that, but your efforts will be ultimately completely useless, since what is on earth does not last.

Jesus adds to this metaphor with this thought:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness — how deep is that darkness!

I’ve often felt that this comment seems out of place right here. But I think what Jesus was saying is something like this:

“Your eyes show your body where to go and what to do. If they are no good, your whole body is in trouble. In the same way, your hopes, goals and ambitions, what you value, where you place your treasure – these things show your soul where to go and what to do. They are like your ‘spiritual eyes.’ And if your ‘spiritual eyes’ are dark or blinded, your whole soul, your very being, is in deep trouble!”

Jesus then applies these two thoughts to money, which, according to Him, is another worthless, quickly-decaying treasure. Pursuing it reveals that we have problems in our “spiritual eyes.”

“No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.

The word “slave” here (repeated twice) is the Greek word “douleuein.” It can mean “be in devoted service” or “yield to.”

Let me be blunt. The world is full of Christians who are trying precisely to serve both God and money. So many of us think we can have it both ways. So many of us deceive ourselves in this area. We convince ourselves that we aren’t really serving money – we certainly aren’t slaves to it (we think, indignantly). And we think, why can’t we have both? Sure, we’re here to serve God. Sure, we trust Jesus to give us eternal life. But what is wrong with the goal of having a little extra money to spare while we wait for heaven? I mean, it isn’t really even to spare, when you think about it. What if I have an emergency? I’m just being responsible.

But it’s funny how “responsibility” grows and grows. Particularly in America, we tend to get involved in all sorts of financial things like swimming pools, boats, unnecessarily large and fancy houses, expensive vacations, vacation homes, beautiful cars, fancy phones and computers. Then, we justify our service to money by saying we are only being responsible.

I don’t think it is wrong in all circumstances for a Christian to own any such thing. But I think we often deceive ourselves about how much we truly are serving money, and about how much of that service is entirely unnecessary.

Here are some helpful questions for determining where you are storing up treasure: Will spending this money make it harder to walk away from what you have invested in? For example, suppose you decide to buy a big beautiful house. Will spending that money, investing in the house, tend to keep you more tied to earthly things? Will it tend to be storing up treasure on earth? Will it strengthen your connection to heaven, or emphasize your connection to this life?

And let’s be honest. If you really don’t care if you have a beautiful house or not, then you probably won’t be particularly motivated to try and acquire it. It may happen that you get one. It may not. You can be grateful and enjoy it, and you can walk away from, knowing that your true treasure never needs a new roof.

We spend a lot of time working for money. Now, the bible is overwhelmingly positive about work, and it clearly teaches that if at all possible, we should take care of the material needs of our families, and to try to help the material needs of those who can’t make it on their own. Here are a few such verses:

But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. (1Thess 4:10-12, HCSB)

Support widows who are genuinely widows. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God. (1Tim 5:3-4, HCSB) [MY NOTE:In this circumstance, widows and orphans without family were the most vulnerable people in society, with no means to provide for themselves.]

But if anyone does not provide for his own, that is his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1Tim 5:8, HCSB)

Jesus expects families will work to take care of themselves, along with donating money to support ministers (1 Corinthians 9:14), and also helping to take care of the most needy in society. So obviously, most of us will be involved in earning money for much of our lives. Even so, he does not want us to pursue money, or desire it for anything other than the above mentioned purposes. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write to Timothy:

But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. (1Tim 6:5-11, HCSB)

So let’s reiterate this: you cannot pursue both God and money. Those who want to get rich fall into temptations and traps and often wander from the faith. You cannot make it your ambition to truly follow Jesus, and at the same time, maintain an ambition to be wealthy.

You may get wealthy as you follow Jesus. If you happen to become wealthy while you live your life as Jesus’ disciple, committing yourself fully to Him and His purposes, it’s probably not a problem. If your goal is never money, but always Jesus, then you might be able to handle wealth in a spiritually appropriate way.

But I have to be honest with you. Most people don’t get wealthy by following Jesus. It could happen, but following Jesus is not a reliable means to financial prosperity. Jesus himself was never wealthy. It didn’t work out for wealth for Peter, Andrew, James, John, Nathaniel, Simon, Philip, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, or Thaddaeus – the eleven faithful apostles. The other close disciples of Jesus who failed to become wealthy include: Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, Silas, James (the half-brother of Jesus). In fact, we know for sure that there were very few wealthy Christians during the time of the New Testament.

If what you really want is wealth, or even really good financial security, I think you need to make a choice between that and Jesus. That is, after all, what Jesus Himself is saying here: you can’t serve both God and money. So decide which one it is, and if it is money, you might as well stop pretending it is God. It’s not like He doesn’t know. Now, I’m not saying that this can never be a struggle. Of course it is a struggle. But you will wear yourself out, and never win any part of the struggle if you going on deceiving yourself by thinking that you can have both the ambition to follow Jesus, and also the ambition to be wealthy. He isn’t saying that it is easy. But I think he is saying that it is easier if you give up one or other.

Read Jesus’ words yourself, and see if there’s any other way to interpret them without twisting them around.

Now, we get to the good stuff. I like the way the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) puts it:

“No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money. This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? (Matt 6:24-25, HCSB)

No one can serve both God and money. This is why Jesus says, “don’t worry about material things.” If you are going to stop serving money, you have to stop worrying about it, and instead, start trusting God to give you and your family what you need. On the flip side, if you want to stop worrying about money, you have stop making it your ambition to be wealthy. You have to stop serving money.

If you want to get wealthy, you will worry about money. If your spiritual eye is focused on something other than Jesus, then you are letting yourself in for worry. There is no way to stop worrying about money as long as money is one of your goals. Even if money is only part of your ambition, simply a means to an end, you will end up worrying about it. [By the way, if there is anyone out there who has a real goal that can be achieved with money, and yet is not anxious about money, I want to hear from you. I mean it. I really want to know.]

I know a lot of people who are much wealthier than me (which isn’t hard to be). I even know some folks who make several hundred thousand dollars each year. I know others who could liquidate their assets and have a million dollars cash within a few weeks. One thing that surprised me the first few times I met such people, is that they are very concerned about money. I tend to think that if I had that much, I wouldn’t be worried. But as a matter of fact, these people appear to worry about money even more than I do. Can I say it this way? Money will not bring you peace.

So Jesus says (I repeat) “this is why I tell you not to worry about money.” He wants us to make the Kingdom of God the goal. He wants us to value and treasure things that cannot be destroyed, to rely on eternal plans that cannot fall apart. The way to peace is to give up money as a goal, and even as a means to a goal. Instead, make it our only goal to be his true disciples.

He spends the rest of chapter six painting this in a positive light, encouraging us to trust. He is like a parent, standing in the water, calling to his little child: “Come on jump! It will be fun and refreshing, and I’m right here to catch you. You’ll be safe, and you’ll even have fun!”

He points the birds and the grass, how they are fed and clothed, and says that God cares for us much more than he does for them. The birds don’t have banks, or investments. God simply feeds them day by day. Jesus closes with this statement:

So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:18-34, HCSB)

Notice the attitude toward the future. He says “don’t worry, saying, what shall we eat…?” That “shall” indicates a concern for the future. Up until now, I have been provided for every day. What I worry about is the future. And Jesus expressly tells us not to do that, right here.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is calling you today to believe this. Give up your other goals, and make Jesus and His plan for you your only ambition. As you do that, trust Him. Your heavenly Father knows what you need. He cares for you and loves you. Give up worry, and embrace trust.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. After all, we’ve just learned that money is the not the important thing. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

MODEST RIGHTEOUSNESS

On July 1, 2014June 27, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

People are supposed to glorify God for the character of Jesus they see in us. They are not supposed to glorify us for the spiritual things they see us doing.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 19

Matthew #19 . Matthew 6:1-20

Matthew 6:1 records Jesus moving on to a new subject. He has given us examples of Christian character in action. Now he begins to speak about the practice of religion. He introduces the topic like this:

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matt 6:1, HCSB)

At first, this sounds a little odd, coming from Jesus, because as part of the very same sermon, he has just said, in Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine in front of people, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:14-16, HCSB)

So which is it? Should we be careful not to practice our righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them? Or should we let our light shine in front of people so that they see our good works and give glory to God? Although it sounds like Jesus is contradicting himself, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. I think, obviously, he is referring to two different situations.

In Matthew 5:14-16, He has just finished describing the character traits of someone who trusts and follows Himself. When we studied those verses we saw that, in fact, disciples are supposed are supposed to let Jesus manifest His own character through our lives. It is immediately after that where he says, “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world…” and then, “Let your light shine. Let people see it.” What it amounts to is this: we are supposed to let people see Jesus in us. We are supposed to let him live in us and through us in such a way that other people see it, and are drawn, not to us, but to God.

Now, in 6:1, Jesus is talking about something else entirely. We have to understand the culture of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. In some ways, it was very different from many places today. Religion was a big deal to them. If you were religious, you were respected and admired. Practicing your religion in a very public way was one means to get people to think well of you. Jesus says, your faith should not be about what other people think. You should be concerned only what God thinks. We could summarize the two different situations like this: People are supposed to glorify God for the character of Jesus they see in us. They are not supposed to glorify us for the spiritual things they see us doing.

The end result is supposed to be that people “give glory to your Father in heaven.” If they are giving honor or glory to you, that is when you should be hiding your good works, or at least directing people to look away from you, toward God who is working in and through you.

In fact Jesus says that if you act religious in order to get the reward of praise from other people, that is exactly what you get – and nothing more.

So, we should be public with our faith in our faith in ways that show off the character of Jesus and point people toward him. And we should be private in our practices with things that would tend to call attention to ourselves and our own activities. As one bible commentator put it succinctly: “Show when tempted to hide, and hide when tempted to show.”

Jesus gives three examples of when we should “hide” rather than “show.” These are things we should do because we want to do them for God, to please him and get closer to him. No one else needs to know about them. If we are serious about helping those who are poor, it shouldn’t matter whether or not we get credit for it. The main point is that we do what are led by God to do to help. If we are sincere about praying and fasting to get closer to God, then it doesn’t matter that no one else sees you doing it. The point is, you are trying to be closer to God, and He sees that.

Basically Jesus says, “You can do it to be praised by other people, or you can do for God. If you do it for the praise of other people, you have not done it for God.”

Jesus starts with the subject of giving to the poor. He makes the main point about doing this for God, not others. He then says, “But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (Matt 6:3, HCSB).” I think the idea here is that we shouldn’t even be doing this to feel good about ourselves. Don’t let your left hand be proud that your right hand gave to the poor. Do it only for God, and for the poor. Now, of course, when you give to a ministry through your local church, someone will know about it. When your local church engages in ministry to the poor, people will need to talk about it, to help make others aware of the opportunity to be involved. We can’t help these things, and I don’t think we should worry about it too much. But we should give for the sake of God and for the sake of the poor, not for the sake of our reputation. God sees your heart, and he’ll know what your goal is.

Jesus uses a second example: prayer. He starts with the example of the Pharisees, who often prayed in public, not because they were moved to turn to the Lord, but because they wanted people to see them doing it. We shouldn’t be legalistic about this. After all, Paul says we should pray without ceasing (1 Thessolonians 5:17), so you ought to be praying while you are out and about. I pray in public sometimes, because I’m always talking to God. But I try to do so in a way that no one notices me doing it. My favorite method is to pretend I’m talking into a cell-phone ear-piece :-). At many other times, I just pray with my “mental voice.”

Now, Jesus is not trying to ban all instances of people praying out loud in the presence of others. In fact, the New Testament records many times when Christians gathered together specifically to pray together. Since some of those prayers have been recorded in the Bible, it is obvious that people often prayed out loud in those situations. Some examples come from: Acts 1:13-14; Acts 2:46; Acts 3:1; Acts 12:12; Acts 16:25; Acts 20:36; and Acts 21:5. In Matthew 18:19, Jesus says that he pays special attention when two or more Christians gather to pray. The rest of the New Testament commands Christians to come together and pray: Ephesians 6:18-19; Colossians 4:2-3; 1 Timothy 2:8; James 5:16, among many other places. The point is, when we do come together and pray, we do it to be in the Lord’s presence together. We don’t do it to impress each other, or show each other how spiritual we can sound. We are simply having a conversation with God together.

I myself am often greatly encouraged when other Christians pray out loud with me. Their concern for what we pray about, and their quiet faith, often provides much-needed support for me.

I do, however, sometimes find myself among people who don’t seem to know what Jesus said about this subject. Unfortunately you don’t have to go very far to find people who pray in ways that seem calculated to whip up energy and enthusiasm among the people who are present. When you step back and listen, it sounds much more like a performance for others than a real conversation with God.

Jesus adds another thought into the mix. The pagan worshippers in ancient times used to babble on and on and use many words in an attempt to get their deities to hear them. He tells his disciples not to do that.

I suppose I am about to hurt some feelings, but I want us to take this seriously. Suppose I was to ask my Dad if I could borrow his truck. While I’m asking, I might think of a few other things I want to say to him. I would probably proceed like this: “Hi Dad. I was wondering if you could loan me the truck on Thursday. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks for all the times you’ve helped in the past. Oh, and the kids would really like it if you could play a card game with them on Thursday. Thanks! Love you!”

Suppose instead, I approached this conversation the way a lot of Christians approach prayer. It might sound like this:

“Oh Dad, dearest Dad, I just come to you today, Dad, I just come to you and praise you, because you are the owner of the truck, the RED truck, the DODGE truck, the truck that has done so much, and meant so much for us over the years. Dad, I really just want to ask you, Dad, if, Dad, you might find it in your plan to let me borrow the truck once more, Dad. And Dad, I just want you to know that I know the truck belongs to you, Dad. It is your truck, Dad. The truck doesn’t belong to me, Dad, it is yours. I just want to use it, Dad, if that that’s OK with you.

Dad, let your BOAT be hauled with that truck, Dad! Yes, Dad, let your BOAT be hauled, Dad! I say, Dad, let your BOAT be hauled your TRAILER used! Yes Dad! Your boat be hauled, your trailer used.

I just want you to know that I love you, Dad. I love you Dad. Oh, I really just love you, Dad. And Dad, I just want to say, Dad… I just want to say that my children…I just want to say that my children, Dad, they just want to play cards with you, Dad. They just want to play cards. Just with you, Dad. Oh, Dad. Oh Dad. Oh Dad, oh Dad, oh Dad.”

I am not trying to offend anybody. But if you are offended by this, think of what God feels! If it is offensive for me to portray a conversation like this, think how offensive it might be to God that we call this sort of thing “prayer!”

I’m serious. Jesus said it, not me. Don’t pray to impress others. Don’t babble on and use many words; your Heavenly Father already knows what you need. How offensive to think that you have the power to convince him to listen by using that sort of blather!

Jesus goes on by giving us a method of praying. We call it’s the Lord’s prayer. I think it is fine to use a prayer in and of itself, because that helps us to remember it well. But more importantly, it is a format for praying. Let me break it down briefly:

1. Our Father in Heaven…Start by recognizing that through Jesus Christ, God has become your loving Father. He cares for you and loves you.

2. Let Your name be honored as holy…Continue by praising God for who He is, for his holiness. Ask him to keep making you holy, and keep helping others to know and grow in His holiness

3. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…Pray for God’s purposes and ruler-ship to extend in your own life, and in the world. Invite him to be your king. Invite him to be king in specific ways in your life, in the lives of those you know, and in the world. Ask for him to do his work (to fulfill his purposes or “will”).

4. Give us today our daily bread…Pray for what you need for today: spiritually, physically and emotionally.

5. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors… Confess your sins and receive his forgiveness. If you need to, make a decision to forgive others, and offer them that forgiveness.

6. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one…Pray for protection from the devil, sin and temptation.

Hopefully as we pray this way, we will do so in simple faith, and not with an attempt to try to impress others or God by self-conscious, spiritual-sounding phrases, repetition, or many unnecessary words.

Jesus gives one more example of righteousness that should be different from the Pharisees: fasting. It seems clear that Jesus expects that his disciples will give to the poor, pray and fast. He doesn’t say, “Don’t do these things.” Instead, he says, “When you do these things, do it like this…” So fasting should be something that Jesus-followers do, at least occasionally.

What is fasting? The basic activity in fasting is going without. The most common form of fasting is going without food for a period of time. Others ways of fasting include going without meat, or without coffee, or without TV or just about anything else you can think of. I myself prefer to abstain from food when I fast, since going without other things does not seem to affect me as profoundly as not eating. Some people fast by going without food during the day and eating only an evening meal for a specific length of time. Some drink only water; others drink diluted fruit juices. Since I want to encourage you to try fasting, I suggest you try a method that is challenging for you, and yet still sounds “do-able.”

My own experience of fasting has not reflected what I might have thought before I tried it. I used to think that fasting was about having the strength and self-discipline to “do without” for God. I thought it was about commitment and dedication and “getting serious” about God and prayer. The more I fast, however, the more I realize that it is just the opposite. In my experience anyway, fasting is more about weakness and surrender before God than it is about the strength to do without food. Fasting is humbling – it puts me in a place of need. Without food, I feel in a physical way my spiritual helplessness and dependence upon God. Fasting is not a way of demonstrating my strength – it is a way of acknowledging my weakness and my utter need for Jesus. It seems to me that fasting is like holding a door open for Jesus to come in and work in a special way.

Every time I feel a hunger pang, I am reminded of my need for Jesus, of my helplessness without him. I remember that I need him even more than I need food. And when I feel those hunger pains, I am also reminded to pray, to talk to him in the middle of whatever else I’m doing.

One thing Jesus obviously knew is that when you fast without showing others you are doing it, it is like your little secret, between Jesus and you. This makes you feel closer, somehow.

My best experiences of fasting are when I do it in the middle of my everyday routine. When I take a day away from everything, and make the whole day about fasting, it usually doesn’t go so well. My very worst experience of fasting was when a group of us tried to fast together; in other words, we weren’t doing it as Jesus tells to, in secret. I wonder if that’s why it was such a bad experience for me.

Jesus concludes the entire section with these thoughts:

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21, HCSB)

The Pharisees had an eye on what they would get here and now from giving, prayer and fasting. Jesus reiterates three times that if we do these things to be admired by people, that is all the reward we get. But if we do them for God, then God himself stores up treasure for us where it can never fade or be taken away. Jesus says, invest in heaven by pleasing God; don’t invest in getting approval from human beings. These things: giving to the poor in secret, praying simply, and often alone and fasting in secret are all ways of investing our lives in the future-life we will have with God in heaven. It keeps our hearts and minds from being focused on the pathetic, temporary things we might get out of this life, and instead, pulls our hearts to the glorious, unfading joy we have waiting for us.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO ATTEND EVERY ARGUMENT TO WHICH YOU ARE INVITED

On June 24, 2014June 21, 2014 By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion1 Comment

Jesus wants to live his life in us and through us, and His life is not ordinary. It is very different from the lives people choose live for themselves. He is showing us what it looks when we let him have control of our lives.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 18

Matthew #18. Matthew 5:33-47

Oaths and Revenge

I have mentioned previously that many of the Jewish teachers in Jesus’ day were often teaching from commentary on the Old Testament, rather than from the Old Testament itself. By doing this, they were able to claim that they were following the bible when they really weren’t. This is one reason why in the sermon on the mount Jesus used the formula: “You have heard it said…but I say to you…”

There is another way which the Jews of Jesus’ time used to avoid actually following the Bible. They would twist the actual words of text while ignoring the Spirit behind it. In many cases, the result was that they would greatly distort the intention of a particular command or passage of Scripture. Basically, they played word-games to get around the plain meaning of the Bible.

I think this is one reason Jesus brought up the subject of taking oaths. This is an area where the Pharisees were not only teaching bad doctrine, they were also teaching people how to get around what the bible clearly says.

Many places in the Old Testament, particularly in the Torah (the first five books), it says that when anyone swears an oath to the Lord, that person must be very careful to do exactly what they have sworn to do (Numbers 30:2, Deuteronomy 23:21). Elsewhere it says that an oath sworn in the name of the Lord must be fulfilled, and if not, that is the same as taking His Name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12).

So what the Pharisees said was essentially this: “If you swear by heaven, you are not swearing by God’s name, so it is okay if you break your word. The same is true if you swear by the earth, or Jerusalem or your own head.” If someone swore “by heaven” many people would think this was implying God, and would therefore believe the person. If they swore by Jerusalem, they might think the temple was implied, again implying God. But the Pharisees were saying this kind of trickery is just fine. After all, the Bible says “You must not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God; I am Yahweh” (Deut 19:12). It does not say: “You must not swear falsely by heaven, or by Jerusalem,” (at least, it didn’t say that until Jesus came along). In other words, the Pharisees had found a way to obey the letter of the law and completely violate the intent of it.

So, according to the Pharisees, dishonesty among God’s people is okay, as long as you don’t do it in God’s name, or take His name in vain. This is clearly not the original intention of the command telling people to fulfill their oaths taken in connection with God’s name.

Sometimes we don’t recognize this, but this is a form of legalism. The idea behind it is, as long as you do the right thing externally, your heart and your intentions don’t matter. And if you parse your words just right, you can figure out ways so that your external behavior doesn’t even have to be that great. Many people deceive themselves with legalisms like these.

In modern times, former-president Bill Clinton is one of the most famous people who used a legalism like the Pharisees. When asked – under oath, in a court of law – if he had had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinski he said “there is nothing going on between us” The question was relevant background material for a sexual harassment case against him. When his lie was discovered later he said, basically, “Well, it depends upon what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” There is a case to be made that in a very technical, narrow way, perhaps Clinton was not precisely lying. However, it is clear that he deceived the court and in so doing, denied justice to a woman whom he had harassed. Even if he was technically correct, his heart was wrong.

The heart is the central issue for Jesus. His concern is this: what is in your heart? Are you looking for a way around God’s Word? Are you trying to justify yourself, or get out of trouble by playing word-games?

Let’s not play word games ourselves. One of the plain meanings of this text is that we should honor our promises and commitments, and speak truthfully. When I was young, my mother would never say “I promise.” It was because of this passage. She said, “If I say yes, then that means yes. You don’t need my promise on top of that.” And I learned I could rely on it when my mother said she would do something, or when she told me something was true.

That is one reasonable application of what Jesus says here. Ephesians 4:25, Colossians 3:9 and James 5;12 all affirm that Christians should be honest people, and that we should be people who stand by what we say.

Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. (Col 3:9-10, HCSB)

You are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. (Eph 4:23-25, HCSB)

Another thing is the very common practice of saying “I swear to God,” or “For God’s sake.” For a lot of people, this is just a habit of speech, and it can be hard to break, because it is barely even conscious. But I think this text teaches that it would be better if we could break such habits. To say those things implies, first of all, that if you weren’t swearing to God, or appealing to “His sake,” you wouldn’t really mean what you say. Second, they kind of cheapen God, implying that “swearing to God” or appealing to something for His sake is not a big deal at all.

Now, Jesus says something that is slightly troubling, if we stop to think about it. He says, “Don’t take an oath at all.” There are two times in my life I have taken oaths: in my wedding ceremony, and in my ordination, to uphold the office of pastor. If you join the military or hold public office, you have probably taken vows to fulfill the duties and requirements of the position you have. Doctors and Lawyers may have similar oaths, as well. In addition, if you are called to testify in a court matter, you generally have to swear to your testimony.

Now thankfully, for most of us we can count the number of times we have taken an oath or a vow on one hand, but even so, what about what Jesus says?

I think we have already looked at Jesus’ main concern, which is the heart. And Jesus was speaking to people who regularly made vows when it was not required of them by law or profession. Personally, my conscience is clear about my wedding vows and ordination vows. But in my ordinary dealings, “yes” means “yes” and “no” means “no.”

What is the purpose of an oath, other than to convince someone you really mean what you say? Isn’t it better to just always really mean what you say? Eventually, your reputation will be such that an oath would be entirely unnecessary, because others know that your word can be trusted.

I want us to briefly cover Jesus’ next statement also. He says:

“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. (Matt 5:38-39, HCSB)

We need to clarify a few things about this passage in order to understand it properly. First, this is still in the section of the Sermon where Jesus is criticizing the way the Jewish people (particularly teachers of the Law and Pharisees) have interpreted and changed the teachings of the Old Testament. The scriptures do in fact say:

“But if there is any further injury you shall appoint as a penalty, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise.” (Exodus 21:23-25).

The original context of these Old Testament verses is the civic law of ancient Israel. In other words, these penalties were given as legal sentences for breaking the law. In our society today, there are maximum sentences allowed to be given, according to the nature of the crime. A judge cannot sentence someone to life in prison without parole for disturbing the peace. In the same way, “an eye for an eye” etc. describes the maximum sentences allowed by Hebrew law during Old Testament times. Thus if you killed someone, you yourself could be executed (capital punishment). If you broke someone’s arm in a fight, you wouldn’t go to jail, instead, your arm would be broken by civil officials. The nation of Israel had no prisons until the time of the kings, therefore, specific punishments were given for specific crimes. In other words, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” was intended directly and only for enforcement of the civil law.

But by Jesus’ day, Jewish Rabbis had twisted these verses out of context and used them instead to justify personal revenge and retaliation. In fact, the original intent of these laws was to hold revenge in check, placing punishment in the hands of law. But this got obscured through years of rabbinical interpretation.

What we need to understand from this, is that Jesus is not advocating anarchy. I don’t believe he is telling us to give criminals free reign in society. Instead, he is speaking against personal revenge and retaliation. In fact the New Testament speaks very highly of the concept of government and law, and we are bound, as citizens of any nation, to try and uphold any laws that do not cause us to disobey God. This means that this verse may create tension at times; for as Christians we should not only refrain from retaliating, but even offer more to the one who would hurt us or take from us. And yet at the same time, as citizens, we ought to uphold law and order. John Stott writes:

“For example if my house is burgled one night and I catch the thief, it may well be my duty to sit him down and give him something to eat and drink, while at the same time telephoning the police.”[1]

Jesus is not trying to stop the administration of justice with his comments; instead, he forbids us to take the law into our own hands.

So what does it mean, understanding this context, to “turn the other cheek?” Jesus very deliberately chose the phrase “slaps you on the cheek” (verse 39). The blow described is an insulting blow, not a dangerous, life-threatening blow. Jesus was slapped by the soldiers as they taunted him before his crucifixion (Mark 14:65). He was slapped by a servant of the high priest at his trial (John 18:22). This is a different Greek word, and a different kind of blow, from the beating/flogging he also received at that time. A slap is the sort of thing which might ordinarily start a fight. In other words, rather than be goaded into a fight for your honor, let the one who is inciting you to fight slap you on the other cheek. Another way to put it might be this: respond to provocation with peace-making.

I think however, that there is a definite distinction between brawling, and defending one’s life. It is one thing to be drawn into a verbal war, or a physical fight; defending yourself from harm is something quite different. Even someone slapping you on the cheek is not going to do you great damage unless you start fighting back.

A threat to life, or a threat of great bodily harm can be defended with clear conscience. Rape also falls into a category where self-defense is appropriate and good. In such circumstances we are not talking about retaliation, revenge or responding to insult, but rather, the defense of body and life. Jesus is also not talking about combat on the battlefield. What we do as soldiers of a nation is not the same as what we do as individual Christian persons. It would seem difficult to argue that fighting in a war as a soldier of your country is a matter of personal revenge or retaliation.

Second, I think Christians are excluded from verbal and legal brawling. I have a problem with a computer company that has both “slapped me in the face” and “taken my shirt” (figuratively of course). I don’t think it is appropriate for me as a Christian to sue them for what they owe me, or even to report them to the Attorney General. For me personally, the only thing that would motivate me to do such things would be revenge. I refuse to call them names or insult them in return for the insults given me (I can’t say I haven’t been tempted).

In this day and age, posts and comments on social media can start “verbal brawling” and campaigns of gossip and slander. So can spoken words. Jesus is telling us to stay out of such things, and to refuse to be drawn into quarrels and arguments, as well as brawls.

The example of Jesus is primary in all of this. Isaiah, prophesying about Jesus, said:

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

People misunderstood Jesus. They mocked him, made fun of him and insulted him. At the end they arrested him unjustly and beat him and spat on him. And he turned the other cheek. And he made the ultimate sacrifice of love for those who abused him.

The Jewish people of Jesus’ day had another saying “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” The first part, “love your neighbor” of course comes from the ten commandments, found in Exodus chapter 20. The second part was fabricated by Jewish rabbis. The “hate your enemy” part is not actually found with “love your neighbor” in the Old Testament. Instead, the rabbis made a case out of various commands to holy war and certain Psalms that highlighted the justice of God. But Jesus is quick to point out that this is an unbiblical, unworthy addition.

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” isn’t a complicated statement: it is just hard to do. But Jesus points out that God loves his enemies, and yours; even when they do evil, even when they are evil.

Jesus concludes with some startling words:

And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:47-48, HCSB)

This is the summary for all of chapter five. Jesus wants to live his life in us and through us, and His life is not ordinary. It is very different from the lives people choose live for themselves. He is showing us what it looks when we let him be in control of our lives.

The standard is his perfection. The very great news is that he covers us in his perfection, so that we meet the standard, not by our efforts, but by trusting him. Instead of striving very hard to do all these things that Jesus has said, he invites simply to say “yes” to him. So, for example we might say, “Jesus, I can’t avoid anger on my own. But I give you my life, and give you permission to deal with it.” And then when he leads or reminds you, let him do what he wants to do with your life. We might say: “Jesus, I can’t love these people who have harmed me. But I know you want to love them through me. You have permission to do that. If you loving them through me means I have to talk with them, I will do that. You can change me and use me as you wish. Thank you for meeting the standard of perfection in my life.”

Let’s let Jesus come and form his own character in us and through us right now.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

[1] John R.W. Stott The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

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