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There Is No God

I’ve called April 1 Atheists’ Day because Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 begin, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” But, not only atheists but backsliding Christians (2 Peter 2:20-21) and those who don’t seek God fall into the category of fool, according to the rest of this short psalm.

I. Romans 3:9-24. The application of Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 is made here. After describing how we are all alike under sin, this New Testament passage explains how God’s righteousness is made available through Jesus’ work on the cross for those who do seek Him.

II. Hebrews 10:26-31. As the wicked eat up the generation of the righteous, we understand that God gives salvation to all who call upon His name (Romans 10:9-13). Those who sin after the knowledge of the gospel will face judgment as they should know better.

III. Matthew 13:36-43. The last verse of these psalms proclaims that those who do seek God will find restoration, rejoicing, and gladness. Salvation came into Zion (John 12:13-15) and would indeed go forth from there (Acts 1:8). The righteous will shine like the sun.

By your living, do you say in your heart, ‘There is no God’?

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Not Against Us is For Us

The Titanic sank over a century ago.  The 20 lifeboats, capable of saving only 1178 of the 2208 on board pushed away half-full, saving only 705.  Why didn’t those on them save more?  Perhaps it was fear or lack of preparation in the panic of the survival situation?  Perhaps in their selfishness they judged those not on the lifeboats as either not worthy of saving or that their addition would swamp their vessel of salvation?

Like the ship, this world is sinking to its final destruction.  Each local body of the Lord’s church is a lifeboat that is only partially filled.  Rather than do the Lord’s job of judgment about who can climb in or is excluded, we need to be about ours of encouraging and teaching the way of God more accurately to those who don’t yet know it (Mark 9:38-41).

I.  Matthew 7:13-14.  A spokesman for the disciples posed the situation of a man doing good works in Jesus’ name as a problem because he was not following “us.”  After all, Jesus himself had earlier spoken of the few who were on the narrow path that led to eternal life while the many were heading to destruction.  That is not what Jesus understood was happening.  Where the followers saw this as a situation of division (1 Corinthians 1:10), God in the flesh saw one who was perhaps not yet His follower (2 Peter 3:9).

II.  Acts 19:1-7.  When we see people in other lifeboats or in areas where several local bodies of the Lord’s church meet, those who have gone from our lifeboat to another, we pray that their vessel is sound enough to save them.  But what about those treading the icy water or are just clinging to debris?  When Paul encountered “disciples” who hadn’t heard of the Holy Spirit and knew only John’s baptism, he sought to fill his lifeboat by preaching the gospel.  While maintaining the distinction between “us” and “him,” Jesus told his followers not to stop the man doing good works in His name “for the one who is not against us is for us.”

III.  Acts 18:24-26.  As a Jew, Apollos was not part of the new covenant in Christ, although God had given him many skills and he taught about Jesus as accurately as he knew.  He would be one today that many in their partially-filled lifeboat would uncaringly watch float by while he clung well to a piece of the wreckage.  Not Priscilla and Aquila.  They “took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”  While we dismiss many Apollos-es as not doing the will of the Father, Jesus reminds us that judgment and the giving of rewards is His job (Matthew 7:21-23) while ours is to fill the lifeboat (Matthew 20:18-20).

The way of salvation is indeed narrow and few find it, but it is not up to us to designate who those few are.  Rather, understanding that those who are not against us are for us, are you filling your lifeboat?

 

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Have You Counted the Cost?

In the story of Dr. Faustus, a man exchanges his soul to the devil for all that the world has to offer, but eventually payment comes due!  How many believe themselves walking on the narrow path that leads to eternal life but because they have compromised with the world, find their feet on the broad road that leads to destruction?

I.  Matthew 7:13-14.  The first verse of the hymn, “Have You Counted the Cost?” challenges us to examine our walk with Christ:

There’s a line that is drawn by rejecting our Lord, Where the call of His Spirit is lost,

And you hurry along with the pleasure mad throng, Have you counted, have you counted the cost?

Our whole duty is to fear and obey God (Ecclesiastes 12:12-13).  Why?  Judgment is coming.  We will be judged by every word of the Word (John 12:48).  His Word is a living standard by which we must give an account (Hebrews 4:11-13).  Even if we’ve obeyed the gospel and on that narrow road, we must make every effort to obey (Mark 8:34) and not be compromised with the world (1 John 2:3-6).  Do you cross His line?

II. Matthew 6:19-21.  The second verse challenges us to examine where we are storing our treasure:

You may barter your hope of eternity’s morn, For a moment of joy at the most,

For the glitter of sin and the things it will win, Have you counted, have you counted the cost?

We are either storing up treasure for this temporary life or for eternal life (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  Some justify disobedience because the trials of life are difficult, but we must persevere instead (1 Peter 1:3-7).  Sin does attract us (Mark 8:35), and Satan knows exactly which lure to use for each of us.  Obedience or disobedience in this temporary life has eternal consequences (Revelation 21:22-27).  Do you barter your hope?

III.  Matthew 4:5-7.  The third verse asks us if we test God when we’re put to the test:

While the door of His mercy is open to you, E’er the depth of His love you exhaust,

Won’t you come and be healed, won’t you whisper, I yield, Have you counted, have you counted the cost?

Time is the gift that God gives us to repent (2 Peter 3:9).  Unlike Jesus who recognized that His time of testing was not an excuse to test God, we often give in when struggles are hard.  God’s patience, kindness, and mercy are intended to return us to Him (Romans 2:3-8).  Our giving in is denying Him (Mark 8:38).  Rather we should submit our lives to Jesus (James 4:7-10) and live through the gospel.  Is the door open to you?

The chilling chorus compels us each to answer to questions:

Have you counted the cost, if your soul should be lost, Tho’ you gain the whole world for your own?

Even now it may be that the line you have crossed, Have you counted, have you counted the cost?

 

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There’s a Great Day Coming

At this time of year, the world puts forth all the things that it considers scary, but they all have to do with the first death, the separation of our souls from our bodies.  No wonder that this experience and the unknown surrounding it are the ultimate in fear for those who have no hope.  But what is the first death to a Christian?  After all, every human being will experience this death.  As one humorist quipped about life: none of us will get out of it alive!  Paul said it best in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  Gain?  How did he get to that point?  By knowing what to fear.

I.  Matthew 10:16-35.  As Jesus sends His disciples out into the world, He admits that He sends them out like sheep among wolves.  Not having the same power as God in the flesh, how was it that they were to combat the strength of the world?  By rejoicing, persevering, and trusting in God (Philippians 4:4-7).  Being anxious about circumstances of this temporary existence that could only lead to their first death would show that they feared the one who could only kill the body–and they are reassured that the Lord is at hand.

II.  Ecclesiastes 12:12-13.  Rather than fearing anything that might bring about the separation of our souls from our bodies, we should fear the one who can throw both body and soul into hell.  This verse in the middle of the Matthew 10 passage is often used by itself to mean we should fear Satan, but God alone is our Judge.  His judgment will part the saints and sinners right and left, the conquerors to eternal life and the cowardly to the second death, an eternal separation of their souls from God (Revelation 21:6-8).  It is no wonder, then, that rather than being scared or worried about the things of this life, our whole duty here is to fear God and keep His commandments.

III.  Matthew 25:1-13.  Consequently, our time here is all about preparing for eternity.  Judgment Day will come when all will have to give an account to God.  Rather than any suspenseful music you might hear coming from a horror movie or costume party, the scariest song is “There’s a Great Day Coming” because it speaks of the second death (Matthew 7:21-23) and challenges us in our preparation now, especially the third stanza:

There’s a sad day coming, a sad coming,

There’s a sad day coming by and by,

When the sinner shall hear his doom, “Depart, I know ye not.”

Are you ready for that day to come?

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Between You and Your God

The impact of the gospel becomes real at the moment Jesus cries out with “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” while on the cross.  This is the whole reason for the “good news” in the first place.  Man, who is separated from God because of sin, can not pay back the debt he owes, so God becomes a man, who does not sin, to pay back man’s debt to God.

I.  1 Corinthians 15:1-4.  From incarnation to intercession, Jesus’ redemptive work at the cross and the tomb is called a matter of first importance and works together to save us (Hebrews 7:23-25).  We each choose to obey or not obey the gospel (Romans 6:1-18) as Jesus overcomes our sin problem (Isaiah 59:1-4) by having our sins punished in Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21) and then solving our grave problem by resurrecting from the dead.

II.  Romans 7:18-20.  Sins are either those we commit (when we do what we shouldn’t) or omit (don’t do what we should).  Even the smallest hint of either will separate us from a holy God (Ephesians 4:17–5:7).  If we just look at the seven deadly sins (although every sin is deadly!), we can see how they all overlap in and work to destroy individuals’ spiritual, physical, and emotional/mental realms.  We need Jesus’ redemptive work of the gospel to remove the separation that sin has made between us and God.

III.  Romans 14:10-12.  We must own our sins before Jesus can take them away.  This means letting their devastating impact to our souls and the awaiting judgment for them truly strike us.  Then, we can appreciate what Jesus has done for us and can obey the gospel by believing (John 8:24), repenting of our sins (Luke 13:3), confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9), and being baptized into His Name for the forgiveness of sins (1 Peter 3:21).

But the gospel doesn’t stop there … as those who have come into Christ must continue to live obediently (Philippians 2:12-13).  Jesus has died for you.  Are you living in Him?

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Fear to witness the judgment of man

Father, I fear to witness the judgment of man.
It starts with us. You shall call to account
What we have done with the treasure of the gospel.
Basically, we’ve sat on it. With notable exceptions,
We created isolated kingdoms, a people
For our own pleasure, doing what suits us.
If Israel paid dearly for its disobedience,
For insubordination, worship of idols,
Abandonment of the one true God, then how
Much more shall we, the blood-bought Church of Christ,
Stand guilty for surrendering our gospel task?
O God, I and my people have grievously sinned.
Be merciful, O Lord, and raise up a nation
That carries your heart, desires your sovereign will
Be done and all be drawn to you in love.
Your name will be exalted. Woe to us
Who fail in the one thing we have to do.
For ’tis a fearful thing to fall in the hands
Of the living God for whom failure is not an option.

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Rethink Your Religion

Recently my wife and I attended a high school musical to support some of her students involved.  We asked a teacher selling tickets how it was, and her answer was “It’s so good, it’ll make you rethink your religion.”  This drastic measure is similar to the southern expression, “It’s so good, it’ll make you slap your Mama.”  Here, the food someone is eating is so delicious that the eater will be forced to strike his mother because her homemade cooking doesn’t compare.  While it was not intended to be a personal slight against our faith, ‘religion,’ in the first expression, is recognized as something intensely meaningful to people.  And so, to describe how good she considered the show, she said the experience would make us reconsider our core values–even the gospel that brings salvation!

I. Colossians 2:6-23.  The postmodern world we live in doesn’t believe in God and so has severed itself from Him and His Word as a standard for our lives.  It desperately seeks meaning and purpose and so grabs onto emotion and experience to futilely try to quench that need.  Sadly, many churches believe they must infuse their worship with the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” of the world as they have missed the deep and sufficient meaning and purpose in the gospel of Christ.

II. Acts 9:1-22.  There is a time to ‘rethink our religion.’  Saul, who became Paul, encountered such a time on the road to Damascus as he was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”  When he realized he was persecuting Jesus who not only gives eternal life but a second chance on life, he was baptized and became a powerful preacher in the early church, who was willing to be persecuted for Jesus instead (Philippians 3:10-11).

III. Acts 18:24-28.  Complacency or misdirected zeal is another reason to ‘rethink our religion.’  There was no doubt that Apollos was a bold preacher already, but his knowledge was insufficient.  After Priscilla and Aquilla took him aside and “explained to him the way of God more adequately,” God used him to debate and prove from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.  A similar story happens with those still called “disciples” that Paul encountered that didn’t know about the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7).

Although the acting and musicianship of my wife’s students were superb, we didn’t much care for the worldly message of the musical.  The good and enjoyable experience was not enough for us to ‘rethink our religion,’ and we left sad for the wonderful packaging wrapped around ungodly themes but still holding onto our core values of the gospel of Christ.  What else could compare to it?

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As Jesus Shook Foundations

O God, who walked this earth and looked
His fellow man eye to eye,
Who touched and healed the sick and lame,
Who took upon yourself our blame:
Make our own words sanctify
Those who surround us — as Jesus shook
Foundations, let our faith transform
Souls who must face the coming storm.

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We Judge Our Neighbor

Forgive us, O God, we judge our neighbor,
When we ourselves are guilty, too;
Instead of repentance, that vigorous labor,
We condemn the wrong that others do.

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The Humble Son to Lead

You, O Lord, created me,
A living soul,
A breathing spirit, full and free,
Complete and whole.

You gave me life, and I was filled
With joy and love;
You blessed, your presence spilled
From heaven above.

We ruined the best, your presence spurned,
Our minds rebelled,
To you, O God, our backs were turned,
Our hope expelled.

The Lord refused to leave us be,
He had a plan—
A rescue from eternity
To save his man.

Continue reading “The Humble Son to Lead”