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She Gave Him Milk

To ‘fight like a man’ is to overtly confront a problem with brute strength.  Somehow to ‘fight like a woman’ has come to mean that the fighting is weaker–but only if compared to how men physically fight.  Women fight in subtler ways–we often call them ‘wiles’–that are just as strong or perhaps stronger than a man’s way–and they learn young!

My wife likes to tell the story of how our youngest at two years of age came to me with her blond pigtails and big, pleading eyes upset because her favorite pink nightgown was in the dirty clothes hamper.  I reassured her that when it was washed she could have it back.  She replied with a cute smile, “That would make me happy!”  A minute later I had to explain to my wife why I was doing laundry in the middle of the week.

I. Judges 4:17-22.  Sisera failed to understand this.  After Barak did not have the courage to ‘fight like a man’ and do what God had told him to do in defeating Sisera, Israel’s judge, Deborah, told him that a woman would claim credit for the victory over the Canaanites.  Although the Kenites were part of Israel, Sisera had no doubt found hospitality in Heber and Jael’s tent before.  Running from Barak, Sisera begs Jael for water, but she gave him milk and a place to sleep.  Then she put a tent peg through his head!  That was not what he expected, but Jael was praised for fighting like this (Judges 5:24-30).

II. 2 Corinthians 2:10-11. Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44) fights through deception.  Failing to ensnare God-in-the-flesh in the normal way he trapped men (Luke 4:1-13) and losing Jesus’ followers to the gospel, he really tries to outwit us with his schemes.  A lion seeking to devour at any opening (1 Peter 5:8), Christians must truly take up the armor of God against Satan’s ‘wiles’ (Ephesians 6:10-11).

III. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  Jesus, however, fights like God–through obedience, truth, and sacrifice found in the gospel.  Through these ways and because He was made like us in every way, He has defeated the devil and death (Hebrews 2:12-14).  Now we, in Him and through Him, are able to fight like Him–if we can clearly see through Satan’s deceptions that would keep us blind to how powerful we truly are when restored to the image of God that we were created in through the gospel.

How do you fight:  Like a man?  Like a woman?  Or like God?

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With You I Am Well Pleased

A humorous series of pictures on social media shows dogs’ expressions before and after being told that they are “good dogs.”  We, too, want to hear from God one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” but are we willing to make it our goal to please Him and walk in obedience?

I.  John 12:42-43.  Ever donate to some cause just to get a trinket in return?  Though our motives are often selfish, we often tell ourselves that we attend church and do good deeds because we love God and others.  But, it is with ourselves mostly that we are pleased.  Fear of many things keep us from obeying God’s commands and pleasing Him.  We must be careful not to be at home in this world (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

II.  Mark 1:9-11.  The life of Jesus is a good study in how to live to be pleasing to God.  When He was baptized, we see His Father expressing this.  We also see this at His transfiguration in Matthew 17:5.  We understand that Jesus pleased God because He was even obedient to death (Philippians 2:5-8), but the great thing is that through His obedience, He gave us the opportunity to please God (Hebrews 5:7-9).

III.  1 Corinthians 10:1-6.  God is not a soccer mom who has an over-inflated view of His child.  Nor does He lavish fake praise when He knows how separated from Him because of sin we are.  Heaven is not a participation trophy!  Instead, we are warned not to repeat the sins of those who have gone before us because God was not pleased with them.  By living by faith, we are able to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).

No, we don’t earn our way into heaven by good works, but we must be an obedient child to one day hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  That would not be possible for us to hear if Jesus had not gone before us and obeyed perfectly to the cross.

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Gave Him as Head Over All

As I’ve taught my four kids how to drive, I’ve wished for a brake on the floor of the passenger side of my vehicle.  It’s just so hard to give up control over many realms of our lives–but especially when it comes to spiritual things.  Allowing Jesus to be lord or head over us is difficult.

In answer to the popular bumper sticker, “God is my co-pilot,” Christians who understand this principle of Jesus as head have said, “If God is your co-pilot, switch seats.”  This doesn’t mean at all that God should control us as robots, but rather that we need to live our lives in submission to Him.

I.  Ephesians 1:15-23.  Our Head is exalted above every name.  All other churches, groups, clubs, organizations, and businesses are temporal.  Many do a lot of good in the world for a lot of people, but when one day the elements melt in the heat, all of them will be gone.  Only the church that Jesus promised to build (Matthew 16:18) and bought with His blood (Acts 20:28), His bride, His body is eternal.  God invests so much, including His great power, into those who make up His body.

II.  Matthew 8:8-10.  For the church, our Head is over all things.  All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus through His death, burial, and resurrection.  Even sinners will be put under His feet in the Judgment to come (Hebrews 10:12-14).  He understands what it means to be our Head, but we struggle to submit to our Head.  Sin and selfishness or adding or taking away from our Head’s Word exalts ourselves as Head over us, no matter how we justify it to ourselves.

III.  2 Peter 1:3-4.  Our Head’s body is the fullness of Him who fills all in all.  In all other groups, there is a separation between the management and the workers.  Not so in the one eternal organization, the Lord’s church.  Using marriage to illustrate the relationship of the Head to His body (Ephesians 5:22-24), we understand that Jesus gives us every blessing so that we may be partakers of the divine nature.  In other words, He fills us and we are His fullness.

Now that is a Head that we can freely submit ourselves to!  His bride does submit to the Bridegroom.  The big question is–are we as individuals submitting to our Head to be part of His bride?

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Will Not Lead to Your Glory

When we look at the time of Judges as God’s people seeking to live for Him in an evil world all around them without compromise or complacency, the parallels to today are evident.

One of the greatest struggles is having the courage to do what God asks when it is so easy to shrink back.

I.  Judges 4:1-10.  Barak had already been told by God to free His people in battle.  This is what the prophet, Deborah, told him when she summoned him.  Yes, Barak was reluctant to obey.  Lacking the courage to do what God had asked of him, he put his trust in Deborah rather than God.  If she would go with him, he would obey.  This road, she told him, would not lead to his glory.

II.  James 4:17.  We often read this account and teach about headship.  Because a man wouldn’t obey, his glory was given to a woman.  But there’s more going on here.  Barak’s sin was one of omission.  He knew the good he ought to do, but he chose to do nothing.  This was Adam’s sin as well.  While his wife was being tempted by the serpent, Adam, who was with her (Genesis 3:6) did and said nothing.  The saddest struggle God’s people have today in an evil culture is our inaction in the face of opportunities for the Kingdom that God gives us each and every day.

III.  2 Peter 1:3-4.  Jesus, however, seized the opportunity to die in our place, so we might share in His glory.  Because He obeyed, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:7-10).  Therefore, the road that leads to our glory is one of obedience to God’s commands.  We must NOT do what we should NOT do, and do what we should do.

This means, unlike Barak, living out what the pages of Scripture tell us to do or don’t do while surrounded by an immoral culture that calls for you to compromise or be complacent.

Do you have the courage to obey though you may be the only one around you to do so?

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Obtained with His Own Blood

When my dad would leave for his two weeks’ active duty in the Navy Reserves every year, he would tell me I needed to be “the man of the house” and take care of my mother.  He didn’t expect me to take care of things that were beyond an eight year-old like fixing the washing machine or drive to the store for milk, but it didn’t stop me having fantasies of wrestling a robber to the ground in the middle of the night to save mom.

In many ways, Jesus wants us to take care of His bride, the church, until He returns.

I.  Ephesians 5:25-27.  As Paul spoke with the Ephesian elders, he states that Jesus’ church was “obtained with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).  Like a medieval knight battling a dragon to rescue the princess, Jesus overcame sin and death on the cross to win those who would be His.  The church is His bride, His treasured possession, that He gave Himself for.  He died for His greatest love!

II.  Hebrews 13:7-17.  Jesus obtained His bride with His blood, but He has gone to prepare a place for her (John 14:1-3), and entrusted her to shepherds.  Speaking to those same elders, Paul states that they are to “care for the church” (Acts 20:28).  Like my dad trusted me to care for my mother while he was away, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-16) entrusts His greatest love with shepherds under Him.

III.  Revelation 19:7-8.  Every bride needs to make herself ready for her wedding day!  The church is no exception.  When the bells ring, it is not time to roll out of bed.  Knowing that our Knight, our King of Kings, has shed His blood for us to rescue us from such a foe (Revelation 5:9-14), we must don our fine linen (righteous acts) and be eagerly waiting for Him when He returns for us (Hebrews 9:28).

Are you by obedience and repentance making yourself ready for when the groom comes for His bride?

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Lessons in the Storm

A huge winter storm, dumping 18+ inches of snow on the North Country, is expected to continue through today, so we’ve cancelling our classes and worship service out of safety concerns.
My observations: shoveling snow during a storm with strong winds blowing is a great illustration of our Christian walks in the midst of a sinful world.
1. We must first prepare to begin the task by bundling up. No Christian should face the day without the armor of God!
 
2. It will be difficult and leave us exhausted. We must brace ourselves for the task, filling up with good spiritual food and trusting in God’s strength, mercy, and grace to get us through.
 
3. There often won’t be a great return for our labor. The snow may blow in the trough behind you and make you question the effort you’re putting in, but our labor for the Lord is never in vain.
 
4. God gives us fellow workers along the way. A good friend with a plow on the front of his truck, who had been plowing since 4 a.m., took a few passes on my driveway and encouraged me immensely!
 
5. Warm rest is waiting when the labor’s done! Just the thought of a cup of hot coffee by the wood stove was enough to keep me going. Heaven awaits God’s faithful servants!
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He did, so we must

Cory Collins has a good outline of Hebrews 10, “Because He Did, We Therefore Must.” Here are his main points:

  • What the law could not do, 1-4.
  • What Jesus did, 5-18.
  • What we therefore must do, 19-25.
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The Lord Has Indeed Risen

A resurrection lesson just before Christmas?  It makes sense if we realize that Jesus was the baby born to die.  The angel declared to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 as Mary was with child that Jesus would save their people from their sins.  The second person of the Godhead took on flesh in Bethlehem so that He could die on the cross for our sins and be raised for our redemption.  Good news indeed!

I.  Luke 24:13-27.  Not all get this–even those who would call upon His name.  Like the two who were in Jerusalem and heard that Jesus was alive, we too trudge on to Emmaus, not realizing the implication of what His resurrection means for us.  We need to spend time with the risen Savior and let Him speak to us of how His sufferings were necessary for Him to overcome death for us.

II.  Luke 24:28-32.  Just like their eyes were opened with the breaking of bread, so must we be cut to the heart (Acts 2:36-41) like those at Pentecost.  We have to have a moment of awakening to what God has done for us through the gospel.  And no wonder the reenactment of the Lord’s Supper hit them.  No doubt that Jesus spoke of the Passover from their history in escaping slavery in Egypt and how the Christ was the Lamb of God, whose blood saved them from death (1 Peter 1:17-21).

III.  Luke 24:33-35.  Tired from their seven-mile journey no more, the disciples, hearts burning from the Scriptures made alive in them, returned to Jerusalem that same day, bursting in on the remaining Eleven with the good news that Jesus had indeed risen.  It was the same information that they had left Jerusalem with earlier that day, but this time they were convinced and could not contain the joy of that message.

Awakened to the good news of great joy, these two followers didn’t need to be told to tell others; they couldn’t wait to proclaim the gospel!  God’s plan has been there all along: He would be born a baby to grow up without sin to die on the cross and then be raised from the dead.  Do you truly know this?  Or are you trudging on your way to Emmaus?

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Bible.12: Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

I was in sixth grade when Atari came out with the first game system.  I never owned one until my kids got a Wii.  Even now if someone hands me a controller I spaz out-of-control because I have no idea what I’m doing.  Some are like that in their relationship with God.  Something goes wrong in life and they are like me playing Mario Karts.

It’s not enough to know the Word of Truth; you have to know how to use it!

I. 2 Timothy 2:14-15.  Several times in Scripture, God’s Word is described as a sword.  But, having a sword is not the same thing as knowing how to use it.  All the lessons on the Bible (see the sermonlines archive) leading up to this one gave great information about the uniqueness, inspiration, authority, and development of the Bible.  It is truth (John 17:17), yes, but it must be applied to be of any use (Psalm 119:11).

II. 2 Corinthians 3:12-16.  Knowledge is only the means to the relationship with God that we all strive to have.  A thorough and continual study of His Word, combined with an abiding prayer-life, will lift the veil on truly knowing the word of truth so that a person can truly know God.  As in any relationship, love is the key to intimacy.  God loves us.  It is our love in return that will draw us into intimacy with Him.

III. John 4:23-24.  Being a true worshiper should be our goal.  To be that, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  In other words, we must know God in a deep and abiding relationship with Him.  Therefore, we must be honest with the word of truth.  We must approach the study of His Word, not seeking justification for who we’d like God to be, but how He reveals Himself to us out the living and active pages of His Word.  Knowing the context and occasion of the passage helps as well.

Does your study of God found in the pages of His Word draw you into a deeper relationship with Him?  Do you know Him?

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New Covenant in My Blood

Apparently in the religious world at large, some suggest that Jesus’ plans to establish His Kingdom were thwarted by wicked men who put Him on the cross, and so He had to establish His church instead.  Ridiculous on so many levels, this false idea is easily refuted through a look at the new covenant that Jesus said He was establishing through His blood.

I. Acts 2:22-24.  How would you ever surprise an omniscient and omnipresent God with a surprise party?  Yet, at the base of this false teaching is the idea that man somehow tricked God, that the One who breathed everything into existence was derailed by wicked men who were too clever for Him.  The cross was done through God’s purpose and foreknowledge as evidenced by how often Jesus spoke of His impending death.

II. Luke 24:25-27.  What a Bible study the two disciples must have had when the resurrected Christ revealed ALL the Old Testament scriptures that spoke about His suffering, death, and resurrection!  Among them must have been the fulfillment of the Passover (Exodus 12:5-11) and the eyewitness-like descriptions of Him on the cross in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 recorded centuries before He came in the flesh.

III. Jeremiah 31:31-34.  Perhaps the most convincing was the prophet’s description of the new covenant that God would make with His people, its hallmark forgiveness of sins and knowing God.  Jesus announces that that is what is being established at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19-22) with plenty of time to avoid the cross if that truly indeed was what God was trying to do.  Indeed, the new covenant, as with the old one, was established through blood (Hebrews 9:16-28).

Many passages use Kingdom and church interchangeably, but the establishment of the new covenant through the blood of the perfect Lamb truly shows that the church is His Kingdom on earth.  Have you entered the new covenant with God through Jesus’ blood being shed for you?