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And Sent Her Throughout … Israel

I don’t believe the USPS or FED-UPS would have shipped it.  The contents were definitely ‘fragile,’ ‘liquid,’ and ‘perishable.’  As terrible as the Levite’s actions were in cutting up his dead concubine after she had been abused by the Benjaminites the whole night and sending the pieces to the twelve tribes of Israel, it did have the effect of waking them up to their spiritual drifting from God’s Law.

I.  Judges 19:1-30.  In a scene reminiscent of Sodom in Genesis 19, the Levite found his host’s home surrounded by men in Gibeah (where King Saul would come from) wanting to sexually abuse him.  In a decision that is heinous to today’s sensitivities and not better explained away by ancient hospitality laws, the Levite’s concubine was given to them instead.  Sending her body parts into Israel provoked outrage and war as this woke the nation up to their spiritual slumber since Moses had mediated the Law on Mt. Sinai many years before.

II.  John 15:18-21.  Throughout Scripture, God used extreme acts to awaken His people, but the result was to bring them back into a right relationship with Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).  Today, it seems that many calling themselves Christian use these extreme actions to protest against truth and groups they feel are stodgy or reactionary.  They call for Christians to blend in with the culture and water-down the gospel to feel-good emotions that are reliant on experience.  Spiritual discipline is hard to market (Hebrews 12:5-11), and Jesus said that His followers were not to blend in with the world.

III.  Matthew 25:1-10.  It takes work to be and stay prepared spiritually (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6), but true worshipers will determine to put this effort above all else.  This is yet another purpose for the church as we each encourage another and spur on to good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25).  The alarm clock is set (Matthew 24:42-44), but we may be hitting the snooze button.

What would it take to awaken you to your spiritual slumber and urge you to awaken others?

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Is It Better For You …?

In the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strip, Calvin often played calvinball, a game in which the rules were always changing to benefit him.  That’s how “Christian chameleons” often treat the truth, changing it to appeal to a wider audience, blend in better with the culture, or benefit themselves in some way.

The question we need to ask is: are we seeking to please self or God?

I.  Judges 18:3-20.  When Joshua divided the promised land among the tribes of Israel, God scattered the Levites throughout the tribes to remind them of His covenant and Law.  In the previous chapter, the Levite was so glad to be employed by Micah that he never says anything against his master’s carved image, household gods, or the location of worship.  When 600 armed Danites ask him if it was better to serve one man or a whole tribe, the Levite goes with them, never mentioning God, the tabernacle, proper worship, what God desired, or the need to be holy as God is holy.

II.  1 Timothy 4:16.  When we don’t watch our life and doctrine closely, we fall into selfishness and sin or compromise truth because of cultural pressures.  In both cases we stray from being a true worshiper in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), become a friend to the world (James 4:1-4), and seek to please self rather than God (2 Corinthians 5:9).  Rather, we must seek first His Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and do everything in word and deed in His Name (Colossians 3:17).

III.  Ezekiel 22:23-30.  During the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel tells us how those who should have been standing firm on truth had strayed in their duties.  He lays God’s charges against the priests, princes, prophets, and people and ends with the lament that there was no one to stand in the breach.  This was true in the time of judges, captivity … but not today.  Jesus stood in the breach for us by the cross and then turned His work over to His followers to be the light of the world (John 9:1-5).

Are you?  Will you stand in the breach to tell a sinful world the saving message of the gospel?  Or will you compromise with the culture?  Will you do what is pleasing to you or God?  You cannot live your live by “Is it better for you …?”  Rather, it should be “Is it better for God …?”

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That She Might Be Holy

In the Beauty & the Beast, it is the beast who changes over the course of the story.  That’s how we would like wedding supper of the Lamb to go.  “Just As I Am” means that Christ ought to accept His bride without any change on her part while the Lion of Judah must be transformed into our image.

The Bible, however, shows a very different picture–one that describes a process of perfection that we must undergo to share in Jesus’ holiness.

I.  Ephesians 5:25.  Like God’s people of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), there’s nothing special about us that the Bridegroom would choose us (1 Corinthians 1:26-28).  We are the nothings of this world, despised and rejected (Ezekiel 16:4-7), yet God loved us, and Jesus gave Himself for us (John 3:16-17).

II.  Ephesians 5:26.  We are not okay the way we are but dirty, sinful, and separated from Him.  Jesus perfects His bride, the church, through a sanctification process (Ezekiel 16:8-12).  This was made possible through His sacrifice on the cross and involves much discipline on our part (Hebrews 12:7-14).  The result, however, is that we share in His holiness if we are trained by it (Ephesians 4:20-24).

III.  Ephesians 5:27.   Once perfected, we advance to royalty (Ezekiel 16:13-14) as the King of Kings presents the church to Himself (1 Peter 2:9-10).  There is no doubt that the sanctified bride will be presented to the Lion of Judah (Revelation 21:1-4).  All that is to be determined is if you will be part of the bride.

We are given the opportunity to share in Christ’s character–holiness, but many do not work out their salvation with fear and trembling.  In describing how God’s people of the Old Testament did not go through the sanctification process, Ezekiel gives us a bleak picture of their end in Ezekiel 16:15-22.  May we remember where we’ve been, recall the price of our sanctification, and live our new lives as the bride of Christ.

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The Lord Will Prosper Me

Little Jack Horner

Sat in a corner

Eating a Christmas pie;

He stuck in his thumb

And pulled out a plumb, 

And said, “What a good boy am I.”

Why did Jack isolate himself to the corner?  Was it to eat a pie he had stolen?  Or so he didn’t need to share it with anyone?  The lack of utensils would point to this.  And, is just declaring himself ‘good’ mean that he is now indeed good despite his behavior?

That’s how sinners and others who stray from God’s Word would like to have it, especially in this politically correct culture in which each person develops his own standard of conduct and declares it ‘good.’  But, God has a standard recorded in the pages of Scripture that He tells us to follow.

I.  Judges 17:1-13.  Five wrongs don’t make a right.  Micah steals from his mother, but to his credit returns the silver.  His mother then has it made into an idol, which Micah puts into his home, makes a shine, other gods, and articles of worship for it, and installs his sons as priests to it.  The writer interjects an explanation here that everyone at this time did what was right in his own eyes (Matthew 7:6-13).  Then, Micah gets a Levite to be a priest to the idol and declares that God will now prosper him because he has made a sad attempt at restoring his actions to God’s Word.

II.  2 Chronicles 34:15-21.  But, is ‘good enough’ good enough for God?  We can fool ourselves, but God knows our true motives (Proverbs 16:1-3).  James 1:5-8 tells us that He’ll help us with wisdom, and James 4:3-4 reminds us that we can’t compromise with the world.  While the world tells us that truth is whatever we make it, God says that’s not so (Proverbs 30:20).  Instead, we need to repent and return to God’s Word like Josiah or like the church at Ephesus was encouraged to do (Revelation 2:4-6).

III.  2 Corinthians 5:6-10.  Cain was told that if he did what was right, he would be accepted (Genesis 4:6-7).  The prodigal son needed to come to his senses and get up and return to his father (Luke 15:17-20) to be pleasing.  So, we must repent and submit to God’s will (James 4:7-10) if we are to please God.  We can’t just declare ourselves pleasing to God with the plumb from the stolen pie on our thumb and expect Him to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Perhaps we should rewrite the nursery tale:

Little Jack Horner

Got up from the corner

Returning his Christmas pie;

He repented of sin

Was restored from within, 

And said, “What a good boy am I.”

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And His Strength Left Him

Like Superman, Samson had great strength, but he had his kryptonite–women!  Many like to blame Delilah (and she was certainly evil), but Samson, like us, was lured and enticed by his own evil desire.

I. Judges 16:1-30.  Though the text says “loved,” there’s no indication that Samson had anything but a very shallow relationship with Delilah, perhaps not much more than he had with his “heifer” who was burned (Judges 14) or the prostitute.  But like that first wife, Delilah worked with the Philistines to undo Samson by using her feminine wiles four times to discover the secret of his strength.  Now, Samson’s thickheadedness in not recognizing what she was doing each time he fought off men doesn’t excuse his giving in and telling this evil woman (she tormented him in his sleep!) and thus throwing away God’s gift.

II. James 1:1:13-15.  We too cannot blame others or circumstances … or the devil (Sorry, Flip Wilson) for giving in to temptation.  Like the foolish youth of Proverbs 7:6-23, we get lured and enticed by our own desire.  We must fight against it.  While in the flesh and made like us in every way, Jesus did in Gethsemane when he committed to following His Father’s will and not his own.  David didn’t do so well (2 Samuel 11), but Joseph resisted Potiphar’s wife’s advances (Genesis 39).  We must submit to God and resist the devil who is fanning the flame of our desire (James 4:7-10).

III. 2 Corinthians 7:10-11.  In Casting Crowns “Slow Fade,” the husband and father doesn’t realize how he is giving himself away.  Samson certainly didn’t get it.  But Judges 16:18-20 tells us that when he gave in, his strength left him … because the Lord left him.  The ending of Samson’s story shows that he went for vengeance rather than repentance.  Let that not be our end as God is willing to forgive and restore if we turn our hearts and minds back to Him through godly sorrow and right actions.

Each person’s Delilah is constantly there, working at us until we are vexed to death.  How we handle these temptations will determine if we hold onto our strength or die with the Philistines.

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Build One Another Up

Whether photoshopped or not, this picture of a cyclist being chased by a bear is a great illustration for motivation.  In our Christian walk, however, we struggle to see the bear behind us and often fall into drudgery or complacency.  How do we find the enthusiasm for ourselves and then to encourage and build up others?

I.  1 Thessalonians 5:8-11.  First, we belong to the day.  This we should not forget.  When we came up out of that water of baptism, we set aside the deeds of darkness as a new creation and pledged to live for God and His will (Romans 13:11-14).  So, we live as children of light (John 3:19-21) with the protection of God’s breastplate of faith and love and helmet of the hope of salvation.  So many face the trials of the day not equipped with what God has provided.  They haven’t grasped their motivation.

II.  Colossians 3:1-17.  The world tells us that heaven is for all and hell for a few, and sadly many live this motivation-killing lie.  The Bible shows us that the opposite is true–that hell is for all (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23) and that heaven is for a few (Matthew 7:13-14).  We’re told to ‘obtain’ salvation.  This means we need to work it out with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13).  Even Jesus needed to do this (Hebrews 5:7-9) and used the joy of heaven as motivation to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:1-3).

III.  Ephesians 4:12-16.  In that is our motivation!  If in Jesus’ sacrifice we share in His glory, then we have reason to enthusiastically obey Him in our daily walk.  But that’s not enough.  We are to then encourage one another and build one another up.  Here’s the purpose of the church coming together each week and staying connected throughout the week.  Here’s why edification is so much more than just instruction.  It’s the application for our own lives and concern for others.  Because of Jesus, we do so.

God through Paul tells the Thessalonians “… just as you are doing.”  How encouraging it must have felt to know they were on the right track.  We too, if we do these things and rediscover our motivation for our Christian walks, can know that we are living out God’s plan for us.

 

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For We Cannot But Speak

People have done all kinds of things while sleepwalking–cooking, driving … even killing–to wake up without a recollection of their actions.  That’s how some believe the Holy Spirit works in our lives, that it takes us over and we have no choice but to do what it forces us to do.  Usually assemblies of these folks will have multiple people at once babbling in tongues, dancing, jumping, fainting, or rolling around.  But, is that how we see God’s Spirit working in the lives of first century Christians?  Rather, like a boy who has just caught a big fish and can’t help but tell others about it, we see the Spirit giving them boldness to edify and evangelize.

I.  Acts 4:17-31.  It must have seemed overwhelming to Jesus’ followers who didn’t yet have the Counselor to be told to go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Jesus had commanded.  What a difference there was between the group in Acts 1 of about 120 huddled within the walls of the upper room with the gospel message hidden within them to the same group accused in Acts 5:28 of filling Jerusalem with their teaching.  That difference was the gift of the Holy Spirit given to them at baptism (Acts 2:36-39).

II.  1 Corinthians 14:26-33.  Without the complete Word of God written that thoroughly equips us today (2 Timothy 3:16-17), God used the lesser gifts of tongues, prophecy, and knowledge early in the first century to impart and attest to His Word, but these would end (1 Corinthians 13:8-13) and had largely ended by the time the gospels and epistles were written and circulated (Hebrews 2:3-4).  But, God was never about chaos.  Even when He chose to use lesser gifts to impart His Word, the spirits of prophets were subject to the control of the prophets.  Those through whom God used to speak in languages they hadn’t studied, prophesy, or present knowledge were to take turns and choose to remain silent at times.  God did not take them over but equipped them through His Spirit.

III.  Romans 8:9-11.  Though we were given the gift of God’s Spirit dwelling within us at baptism, we (probably in reaction to the misuse of how He works in us by groups around us) act like we don’t have the Spirit within us and largely ignore this gift.  Though we know the great commission that Jesus has given to us, we huddle within the walls of our upper rooms with the gospel message that a lost world so desperately needs to hear hidden within us.  Like Acts 1 followers, we pray that God will change the world to make it more receptive and tremble in fear of politically-correct persecution.  But, after the Acts 2 Christians had been beaten and threatened not to speak in the Name of Jesus anymore, they prayed instead for boldness to edify and evangelize … and the Holy Spirit equipped them to do so.

Understood within the proper context, we have an incredible gift–God’s Spirit living within us to guide, equip, strengthen, and embolden us to live as Acts 2 Christians.  Are you ignoring it or guarding it (2 Timothy 1:13-14) to use for God’s Kingdom?

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As They Did To Me

As the anniversary of 9-11 came around this week, many still want vengeance for what happened to us.  But, is that what we should be seeking?  Both had the Spirit of the Lord, but isn’t it good that Jesus, while on the cross, sought forgiveness rather than vengeance for us like Samson would have done?

I.  Judges 15:1-15.  Back and forth Samson waged war with the Philistines, each seeking vengeance for what he or they perceived the other side had done to him or them.  They literally fought fire with fire, and it all came from worldly thinking: “As they have done to me, so have I done to them.”

II.  Romans 9:20-24.  God’s sole right to vengeance is rooted in His sovereignty.  Since He made everything, everything is His (Colossians 1:16).  Since God has the sole right to reveal His wrath (Romans 12:19), He also has the sole right to bring mercy.  His wrath will be wreaked against those against Him or who don’t know Him (Romans 1:18-21) and those in the church who deliberately sin or shrink back (Hebrews 10:26-31).

III.  Romans 12:14-21.  Since we’ve all sinned (Romans 3:23), we’ve all earned His wrath (Romans 6:23), but He has shown mercy to those in His Son by Jesus’ work on the cross (Romans 8:31-39).  So, rather than waging war as Samson or the world does (2 Corinthians 10:3-5), we who have escaped God’s vengeance by obeying the gospel, persuade men instead and reconcile them to God’s mercy through the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

Realizing that you have escaped God’s vengeance through the gospel, do you seek vengeance or mercy for others?

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Rushed Upon Him

Throughout the Avengers series, Bruce Banner struggled to control the Hulk from taking over.  That’s how many believe the Holy Spirit acts in our lives.  Samson seems to exemplify that, but with a closer look we see that those with the Spirit of the Lord choose their actions.

I.  Judges 14:1-20.  It’s clear from the onset of Samson’s story that God knows our terrible choices ahead of time and uses them for His will.  The ‘lawless men’ who sent Jesus to the cross were not thwarting God’s plan but falling into it (Acts 2:22-24).  It’s also clear throughout all of Samson’s life that despite having the Spirit of the Lord that he acted out of selfish motives and anger, something that could not please God.

II.  John 2:13-17.  Jesus had God’s Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17), and many might have thought that there was another Samson in their midst when He overturned tables and drove money-changers out of the temple with a whip.  But, John explains that the source of Jesus’ anger was different.  Jesus who never sinned (Hebrews 4:15) had an anger not rooted in sin (Ephesians 4:26) but rather zeal for His Father’s house.  Like Samson, though, Jesus chose His actions.

III.  Acts 2:16-39.  We too choose our actions.  Given the Spirit of the Lord as a gift at baptism, Christians choose to either take the route of Samson and grieve the Spirit by our sinful choices (Ephesians 4:30) or serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).  With His Spirit, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21) to bring others to Christ the choice of waging spiritual war differently than the world does (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  But we have to choose these!

If you have obeyed the gospel, you have the Spirit of the Lord.  With it dwelling in us, teaching us, and equipping us in various ways, we each need to choose what we will do with this new life we have been given.

 

 

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Greater Things Than These

Usually a death bed promise works the other way.  The one who will continue on promises to do something after the loved one is gone.  As further proof of the resurrection, Jesus, while still alive but soon to die on the cross, makes a promise to His church that through Him (alive again and interceding for us at the Father’s side) we will do greater things than He did while on the earth.

I.  John 14:12-14.  There’s no doubt that Jesus did great things in His three-year earthly ministry.  After all, He was God in the flesh.  But the King of Kings showed Himself to be the servant of servants with great compassion: touching the leper, raising the widow’s only son from death, multiplying food to feed the hungry masses following Him, casting out demons from a man long bound.  And while He did these things, He spoke of how we would become parts of His body (Matthew 16:18), bought with His blood (Acts 20:28) and disciplined to share in His holiness (Hebrews 12:7-11).  Why?  So that we might serve as He did (Galatians 5:13).

II.  Romans 12:4-8.  Belief in Him is essential for the various body parts to work together to do great works (John 10:37-38).  We are to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) and walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6).  Not awkward like the participants in a three-legged race, we are to move together as one body, seeing ourselves as parts of the body contributing to its working and connected to the Head (Colossians 2:19).  Whatever your function, you are essential to Christ’s body serving properly.

III.  John 13:12-17.  We stand in awe of what the Amish can accomplish in just one day by working together … and without power tools.  But Jesus promises the body that we will do even greater things than what He did while in his body.  We certainly see His enemies powerless from the start (Acts 4:14-16) to thwart a unified body.  Even their efforts to smash the hornet’s nest in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-4) backfired as the scattered disciples preached the gospel wherever they went.  So, as an individual body part, how are you serving in your personal ministry?  And, as a member of Christ’s body, how are you working together with others to serve and function as one body?

Jesus built His church with His own blood so that Christians around the world could serve together in local bodies and together be the body of Christ with Him as its Head.  It starts with you.  How are you serving as Christ did?