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When in Rome, DON’T Do …

For much of our nation’s history, Christians could float with the current of culture as it was going generally in the same direction we wanted to go.  Christianity was ‘mainstream’–literally!  But, several decades ago, while complacency and compromise with things in the culture that didn’t fit with the Bible let us drift asleep, the current swept us down the wider branch that leads to destruction instead of the narrow creek off to the side that few find (Matthew 7:13-14).  Many are just now waking up to our danger and wanting to fight upstream but don’t know how.

I.  1 Peter 4:12-19.  We must know the current.  In the first century, Christians were persecuted because the paganism of ancient Rome insisted that they worship the emperor as a deity.  Terrible things occurred to those who trusted in no other God and wouldn’t bow to the affairs of the state.  Today, humanism that tolerates no god but man himself, seeks the state as man’s savior and demands fealty to doctrines contrary to biblical teaching, such as gender identity, homosexual marriage, abortion until birth, etc.  It’s no wonder that Christians today find themselves in the rapids and up against the rocks of persecution like those twenty centuries before (Philippians 3:10-11; Hebrews 2:10-11).

II.  2 Corinthians 10:2-6.  We must know our equipment.  To fight upstream in this spiritual battle, we must know that we will lose if we wage war as the world does.  We have spiritual weapons that can demolish strongholds.  Among many methods mentioned in Colossians 3:12-17, love is foremost to bind all these efforts together and should be used while leaning on God’s understanding (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).  The full armor of God with all of its various functions is essential as a true “life” preserver in determination to regain the narrow fork.  We must recognize the attitudes, beliefs, values, and practices of the world that we’ve accepted into our lives and put in the hard effort of paddling upstream to return to God’s Word in all things for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-11).

III.  1 John 3:1-3.  We must know our destination.  As individual Christians we must know to avoid the world (2 Timothy 3:1-5), but we must help others keep the focus of walking as children of light (Ephesians 5:8-11).  Fixing our eyes on Jesus, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, we won’t grow weary and lose heart in the hard work that will be required to set ourselves back on the narrow fork (Hebrews 12:1-4).  Jesus is that hope through the temporary trials of the rapids and rocks (1 Peter 1:3-7) until we reach our goal.  It will take great determination to purify ourselves and encouragement of others to fight our way upstream.

The pull of the humanistic current of culture is strong and hard to resist.  Awakening to the spiritual battle, we must understand the danger, equip ourselves with the weapons God has provided for us, and fight upstream to the destination promised to us.  Who can you get to fight against the current with you?

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DON’T Lean on Me, When …

For many generations, the church in the West has been able to float lazily along on an inner tube because the current of culture was flowing in roughly the same direction.  And so, we fell asleep, not realizing that in the past few decades the current has reversed its course.  Like the frog in the pot that tolerates each increased degree of heat until it boils, Christians need to recognize what is happening to us and why.

I.  John 8:31-47.  Jesus addresses “the Jews who had believed him” and yet contrasts them with true disciples who abide in His word, know the truth, and do the works of God.  It wasn’t enough for them to be descended from Abraham if the shriveled and wormy fruit they were showing was that of their father, the devil.  The same goes for those who point to their baptism into Jesus for the forgiveness of sins but who are blinded by complacency in their faith or whose hearts are hardened by compromising with the culture.  These love the world more than they love God (John 12:37-43).

II.  1 John 2:15-17.  As we float along on the wide river that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), we can take too much confidence that we differ from those drowning around us in degree but not in character.  What Eve reasoned in her mind to justify disobedience to God (Genesis 3:2-6) is exactly that which describes those who love the world.  The current of culture affects the love we have for God, which should be with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Luke 10:27-28), and therefore our obedience (John 14:15) and the seeking of His kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

III.  1 Corinthians 1:18-25.  We’ve all heard Bill Withers’ song, “Lean on Me” that, if promoted, can be a false comfort from one not aware of himself floating with the current of culture.  Rather, we must stick to Paul’s model of comforting and demonstrating of the Christian life (1 Corinthians 11:1).  Our understanding before we became Christians was not to be trusted (Proverbs 3:5-6), so should it not be leaned on if we are complacent or compromised Christians.  Rather, we must lean on God’s wisdom as found in His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Avoiding the world’s wisdom (2 Timothy 3:1-5), we must walk in the light and awaken (Ephesians 5:7-14).

We must all jump out of the pot that is almost at boiling.  We must all sit up on our tubes and paddle furiously upstream. How much have you let tolerance of the world affect you?

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You Go, and Do Likewise

We often think that Jesus using a Samaritan, whom the Jews despised, to show kindness to a Jewish man was just to answer the question, “And who is my neighbor?” but the ‘And’ indicates that this parable goes much deeper.  There was a previous question posed by the lawyer: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

I. Luke 10:25-28.  Since we discover later that the lawyer was seeking to justify himself, his use of ‘Teacher’ was perhaps a bit smug.  He believed he knew it all, but Jesus, who knew all men’s hearts, answered both questions posed to Him in this passage as a great teacher would–with questions of His own.  The puffed-up lawyer answered correctly, but Jesus said he did not fully understand the implications of what it meant to love God with ALL of his heart, soul, mind, and strength nor his neighbor as himself (Matthew 5:43-48).  Love as Jesus loves, and he will live (John 15:12-13 and Romans 5:6-8).

II. Luke 10:29-35.  Speaking to Jews, Jesus first tells of two among them–a priest and a Levite–who ought to treat well a fellow Jew who has been beaten and robbed.  They don’t, however, as they pass by the poor man without taking any loving action to ease his distress.  It is a Samaritan, one who was not in the covenant with God and lived in the land that was once part of Israel, who had compassion instead.  More than just broadening their concept of who was their neighbor, Jesus challenged them on how love was defined.  An enemy of the Jews took sacrificial actions to care for and serve one of their nation (James 2:14-17).  Would they have done the same in return?

III. Luke 10:36-37.  Then turning the lawyer’s question back to him, the Teacher makes his student apply the head knowledge of the Law, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor …?”  Perhaps not able to say the name of his enemy’s race, the lawyer answers in honesty, “The one who showed him mercy.”  Jesus’ command, then, to what the lawyer must do to inherit eternal life is a command to us as well, “You go, and do likewise.”  Having found freedom in Christ, how should we use that freedom, then?  Not to indulge in sin but rather to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13-15).

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Give Me Grace

Give me grace, O Lord,
to bear the burden of the day.
Give me peace, O King,
to pass to sufferers in the way.
Give me light, O God,
to see the path that I must tread.
Give me life, O Father,
from him who’s risen from the dead.

Give me love, O Sovereign,
such as on earth I’ve never known.
Give me hope, O Lamb,
of righteous fruit that I have sown.
Give me faith, O Faithful,
that wavers not when I am tried.
Give me word, O Lord,
that you with me will ever abide.

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Praying for us all

Dear Heavenly Father, here are my requests for the new year.

  • For the wife and me to have a great year together, with health and happiness, joy and usefulness.
  • For our children to be well, in body, spirit, family, and service.
  • For our grandchildren to receive the love and care they need to develop into your children.
  • For our families of origin to increase their faith.
  • For the spiritual, missional, and numerical growth of the congregation.
  • For new beginnings in our region.
  • For the brotherhood to be strong in faith, in truth, in love, in grace, in the Word of Christ.
  • For the people we love, for the brethren you have given us, for the lost who need news.
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Teaching Them

The Christian Walk has been described as one beggar showing another beggar where to find food.  This illustrates wonderfully how one of our primary missions on this earth is to instruct others in the way of salvation.

I. Matthew 28:18-20.  Animals know how to live by instinct, but human beings need to be taught (Genesis 3:5-22).  God has given us the Bible to instruct us in the way of salvation (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and displayed His power in creation to know that He is God (Romans 1:18-22).  So, it is no wonder that Jesus seeks and saves the lost (Luke 19:10) today by equipping us to make disciples through teaching others the gospel.

II. Ephesians 4:11-16.  But, the teaching does not stop there.  After making disciples, we are to teach them to obey all of Jesus’ commands.  To do that, Jesus established His church (Matthew 16:18) as a center of learning, where the lost can hear the gospel, yes, but where the church, speaking the truth in love, can build itself up in love.  Our teaching should not be confined within the walls of buildings, however, but the church, attaining unity and maturity in Jesus, should go forth and teach.

III. John 13:13-34.  We glimpse Jesus’ great love that motivated Him to live a number of years in the flesh to instruct us in the way of salvation before going to the cross for us in love.  In Matthew 23:37, He laments that Jerusalem persisted in sin while so many prophets had come to teach the city and the nation throughout the centuries.  That same love is our motivation as we take up Jesus’ mission to teach others by word and by deed, by our very lives, the way back to God.

By learning do we now understand our world, and so God, in His infinite wisdom, taught us who He is and how to return to Him.  Then, having come to know Him, we are, in turn, told to teach others.

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I Will Offer It Up

God made us in His image, but so often we try to make God in ours.  We want a god we can control, and so we’ll try to bargain with God by making promises or deals that usually begin with “If You will …, then I’ll ….”  But, God doesn’t operate that way; rather He works through love.

I.  Judges 11:1-40.  Despite a similar start to life, Jephthah nevertheless had a different spirit than the judge from previous chapter, Abimelech.  Jephthah tried to reason with the Ammonite king to avoid war, but war came anyway.  Rather than trusting God, however, Jephthah made a rash vow to God to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house, which sadly was his daughter, if God would give him victory.

II.  Isaiah 44:9-17.  In making us in His image, God put us in dominance over all the earth, but that does not include God Himself (1 Corinthians 11:3).  We turn to idols even today because we can control them rather than submitting to, trusting in, and obeying God.  Even Job thought he had a few points that he would like to argue with God (Job 13:3), but how can creation argue with the Creator (Romans 9:20)?

III.  Romans 8:28-32.  Instead of coming across as a used car salesman with God (Do I have a deal for You!), we must realize that God loves us unconditionally, will give us whatever we need in line with His will, will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), has thoughts and ways so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8), and has a perfect plan for the perfect time in the perfect way (Galatians 4:4-5).  And sometimes we have something to learn from His discipline (Hebrews 12:7-11).

Therefore, love is the coin of the Kingdom.  Just as we do for those we love without bargains, promises, or vows, how much more will God do for us as He’s already proved His love through the giving of His Son on the cross (Romans 5:6-8)?

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Show me love and power

Heavenly Father, show me your love and power
Your child am I — created in your image
You know my needs, my every fear and pain
I trust in you — on you I wait in silence

Still my troubled heart and restless mind
Sustain me with your every promise kept
By day I search for you till setting sun
Your name upon my lips in dark of night

Thanks I give for what I have been given,
For what I’ll still receive — Whatever my want
I’ll not complain, but think of Jesus Christ,
Who walked the lonely road to Calvary’s tree.

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Stand in the Breach

Like the pillar of cloud and fire separating the Egyptians from the Israelites at the Red Sea, God has always stood in the breach for us.  He had to as we could not, because of sin and selfishness, stand in the breach for ourselves.

I.  Ezekiel 22:24-30.  At the time of captivity, the nation of Judah had so fallen into sin that God says He searched for one to stand in the breach for them but found no one.  That’s mankind’s struggle as no one is righteous and all have fallen short because of sin (Romans 3:9-23).  God has always stood in the breach for us (Exodus 14:19-25) through power, but He declares that He will now do so through weakness (Ezekiel 34:11-16) and states that He Himself will be a good shepherd to us.

II.  John 10:11-15.  Jesus, God in the flesh, is our Good Shepherd, who lays His life down for us.  To stand in the breach against the forces of the enemy is a position of sacrifice for all those who He protects within the defensive fortification.  Jesus fufills the “Here am I, send me” of Isaiah 6:8 by willingly laying down His life on the cross (Hebrews 10:5-10) and stands in the breach caused by our sin.

III.  Ephesians 6:10-18.  Through His sacrifice, we are able to love like He has loved us and lay our lives down for others (John 12:23-26; John 13:34-38) and stand in the breach for a lost world (John 15:11-17).  Armed with His love as our ultimate weapon, we do not wage war as the world does (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  So, it is time to suit up!

God still stands in the breach for us with His mighty power.  It’s just now that through the weakness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25), Jesus has made it possible for His followers to stand in the breach in His mighty power with the same weapons of weakness–and overcome!

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Let Love Prevail

For love were we created — let love
prevail among us, genuine,
sincere, and willing to learn —
in all things honest, earnest,
accepting — as you accepted us.
Welcoming house of God!
Let nations come to dwell here!