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And the Lord Added

Any bride beginning a new marriage would have trouble if she only spent 1-3 hours with her husband, spoke to him only when she needed something, made excuses to not study him, and never wanted to spend time with his family.  Yet, that’s often how we treat our relationship with our Bridegroom, Christ (Acts 2:42-47).

I. Ephesians 5:21-24.  Our work in our relationship with Christ is to devote ourselves to Him.  One of the words used to describe how we are to work in 1 Corinthians 15:58 is ‘steadfast,’ which is the way that the KJV translates how early Christians approached their new relationship with their Bridegroom.  Other translations use ‘devoted,’ which Paul and James say is to wholeheartedly submit to our Husband (James 4:7-10).

II. Ephesians 5:25-27.  There’s mutual benefit when both work in a relationship.  Jesus sanctifies His bride, the church, so that it can glorify Him.  He died for us to give us life, so we set our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-4).  When someone’s hobby, such as fishing or cars, is his life, it’s obvious.  Christ is our life now, and so this ought to be obvious in what is important to us and how we live.  This was obvious with the early Christians.

III. Ephesians 5:28-30.  Faithfulness and steadfast love being the foundation of God’s character (Psalm 89:14), He never changes in our relationship with Him (2 Timothy 2:11-13).  He equips us out of love with what we need, but our job is to grow in Him (Ephesians 4:15-16).  In the ‘Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, we can see the dating phase that with our Bridegroom’s authority, we are to make disciples.  The wedding occurs as they are baptized and the Lord adds them to His bride, the church.

Then, the marriage begins as we work to keep them as disciples with Jesus’ help.  Any relationship takes much work to maintain.  How are you growing in yours?

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His Grace Reaches Me

When a parent praises a kid for fridge art, “help” repairing a car, or even a tiny fistful of dandelions, is it because of the kid’s ability or resources to provide a really great gift or service?  No, but to the parent, what the kid has given is precious because it is based in love and in the relationship the parent has with the child.

That is grace.  And each of us needs it from our heavenly Father (Psalm 86).

I.  Romans 8:31-34.  The nature of a servant is that we are poor and needy and must trust God to give us what we need.  We trust in His nature to be good, forgiving, and abounding in steadfast love.  He is the giver of grace as is evident in the title hymn:

Deeper than the ocean and wider than the sea, Is the grace of the Savior for sinners like me; Sent from the Father and it thrills my soul, Just to feel and to know that His blood makes me whole.

II.  Romans 8:35-37.  God is above all and works for the good of His creation that He loves.  This grace should be returned with worship from His creation.  We need God to teach us, walk with us, and provide us, who are more than conquerors through Him, with salvation.

Higher than the mountain and brighter than the sun, It was offered at Calv’ry for ev’ry one; Greatest of treasures and it’s mine today, Tho’ my sins were as scarlet, He has washed them away.

III.  Romans 8:38-39.  Others may seek to harm us, so we need God’s protection.  Because of His character, He helps us in His grace so that we are never separated from Him.  We display the grace He gives us by bringing Him glory in lives lived for Him.

His grace reaches me, yes, His grace reaches me, And ’twill last thru eternity; Now I’m under His control and I’m happy in my soul, Just to know that His grace reaches me.

All that we can offer our heavenly Father is like a badly scribbled crayon-drawing, the turning of a plastic screwdriver, or dandelions picked from the ditch.  Yet, He accepts them gladly out of love and gives us more grace.

 

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For in You I Trust

Where do we go when our lives are handfuls of broken pieces?  Like Charlie Brown once again running towards Lucy to kick the football, the world yanks what we need away and we regret that once again we have put our trust in it.  Why do we not trust God more?  David answers this in Psalm 143.

I.  Psalm 1:1-3.  Because his enemy is pursuing his soul and crushing his life within him, David prays for mercy, appealing to God’s great faithfulness, righteousness, and steadfast love to grant it.  But, David is conscious of how he is living before God as well when he asks Him not to enter into judgment with him and then spends much time recalling what God has already done for him while yearning for a closer relationship with God.

II.  Romans 8:13-14.  If God does not answer him quickly, David knows that his spirit, already fainting within him, will fail.  Because it is only in God that he trusts, longing to hear of God’s steadfast love as He answers David’s prayer and gives guidance by morning, David has to be patient.  Often we find it harder to trust God when the world offers a quicker or easier “fix.” Perhaps we fear rejection by the world or hope it will leave us alone if we blend in with it?

III.  Romans 8:3-8.  David appeals to the relationship that he has with God for his life to be preserved.  As God’s servant, he submits to God’s will and trusts fully in Him and Him alone, choosing to be led by His Spirit.  Therefore, since he belongs to God, he asks God to guide and save him “for [God;s] name’s sake.”  There’s certainty in David’s trust of God.  Because of his close relationship with Him, David knows his enemies will be destroyed.

The Japanese art of kinsugi mends pottery with gold and lacquer and brings more value to a piece than before it was broken.  Only God can take our brokenness and turn it into a beautiful-mess.  Trust Him.

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Even If You Suffer

Suffering results from consequences of our bad choices and of our good choices.  Many reap harvest from sin and smugly assume that all suffering is for righteousness’ sake, but it is only suffering for doing good that God says He will bless you (1 Peter 3:13-18).

I.  Philippians 3:8-11.  We endure righteous suffering because of our relationship with Christ.  If God is truly our refuge where we abide and store our treasure (Matthew 6:20-21), then He will bless us when we suffer along with the prophets (Matthew 5:11-12).  Christ put the relationship with His Father first and suffered to make the gospel possible, so we must die to sin and selfishness to live in Him as a new creation (Romans 6:3-5).

II.  1 Peter 1:14-15.  We endure righteous suffering because of our relationship with ourselves in Christ.  If we are fearful or anxious for what the world can do to us, then we have a very low faith and trust in God, the only One we should fear (Matthew 10:28).  Rather, because He endured suffering and chose to be holy because His Father was holy, we too must choose, as we die to self and live for Him (Romans 6:6-8), to be holy for our own sakes.

III.  2 Corinthians 5:18-20.  We endure righteous suffering because of our relationship with the lost.  The sinless Christ died for us when we were unrighteous (Romans 5:6-8), so he has done for all while hoping for their repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Since He chose to suffer for the lost, shouldn’t we who have obeyed the gospel and are in Christ already be willing servants or ambassadors for Christ by being gentle and respectful towards them (Galatians 6:1) that we might win some?

Many avoid suffering at all costs, often compromising with and blending in with the world.  But Christ suffered for righteousness’ sake for you who were lost.  Shouldn’t you who are in Christ because of His suffering be willing to suffer to bring the lost to Christ?

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None of Self and All of Thee

In our relationship with God as in our earthly relationships, we would all insist that we love the other, but to what degree do we love?  The transition to love for God begins when we recognize ourselves in the first stanza of this song and obey the gospel:

O, the bitter pain and sorrow That a time could ever be,

When I proudly said to Jesus, “All of self, and none of Thee” …

[In brackets, I will tell the story of four Valentine’s Days or my spiritual journey: In our last semester of college while student teaching, my wife and I both obeyed the gospel on Sunday, February 14, 1993, just four months before we would graduate and be married, and thus we began our married life together as new Christians.]

I.  1 John 4:7-12.  Growing in our relationship with God, however, progresses from our second birth–just as a baby grows from his first birth or a marriage grows from a wedding.  Sadly, many Christians stagnate for years with a head knowledge of God and the gospel.  They can often cite book, chapter, and verse and can tell all about the love of God (Romans 5:6-8) without truly loving Him in return.  They are caught in the second stanza:

Yet He found me; I beheld Him Bleeding on th’ accursed tree,

And my wistful heart said faintly, “Some of self, and some of Thee” …

[On February 14, 1994, my wife gave me a study Bible to celebrate our first birthday in Christ.  I dove into knowing everything I could learn about it, God, and salvation, even completing a Bible degree.  While my wife was always a solid rock of faith–even through a cancer diagnosis of 2012 and a first brain tumor diagnosis of 2017, I used the gifts God gave me to teach and preach for the next three decades with a strong head love for Christ that went up and down through the years.]

II.  1 Peter 1:6-9.  In the Old Testament, God speaks about refining His people in the furnace of affliction.  In the New Testament, He speaks of using various trials to test the genuineness of our faith that hopefully leads to the salvation of our souls.  In most places today, the freedom to worship and general lack of persecution has made Christians complacent in our spiritual growth and content living with a low level of faith.  Struggles can stir us to a heart love for God as seen here:

Day by day His tender mercy Healing, helping, full and free,

Bro’t me lower while I whispered, “Less of self, and more of Thee” …

[The previous summer had my wife reacting to air quality, chemicals, surfaces, electricity, and wifi.  In desperation, she attended a naturopathic clinic in Kansas in January that showed a mold toxicity in her system.  I began mold remediation and reconstruction in the house to prepare it to sell while also cleansing, storing, trashing, or burning our possessions.  Living with a friend with similar issues, my wife met me for dinner on February 14, 2020, less than a month before her second diagnosis of brain tumors, where we spoke about our uncertain future.  Through radiation, a host of physical struggles, and months of hospice care, God gave us a last season together while He and I worked to break through my wall and I could grow in my heart love for Him.]

III.  James 4:7-10.  A total submission to God in a Christian’s head, heart, soul, and strength is required for him to truly love God and live (Luke 10:27-28).  This soul love can only come with a yielding of oneself to Him entirely and is beyond a head and heart love.  It comes through much prayer and perseverance.  When seeking of His kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33) is added to fear of God and the keeping of His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13), submission can be achieved.  It is beyond the first four stages of grief after a great struggle or loss: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression.  It is found in acceptance and is spoken about in the last stanza of the title song:

Higher than the highest heavens, Deeper than the deepest sea,

Lord, Thy love at last has conquered, “None of self, and all of Thee” …

[I did not arrive here when my wife died in mid-December.  It was only in the past couple of weeks when I finally gave up in my fight against God, no longer struggling to make provision for the flesh (Romans 13:11-14), that I awoke to that soul love for God and Christ, my Savior.  Not that I no longer face temptations, but I am wearing the armor of God while fully submitting to Him and seeking for Him.  And so, this is the lesson I am preaching this Sunday, February 14, 2021, on the 28th anniversary of when my wife and I first professed our love for God, having first realized His great love for us.]

Which stanza of the song do you find your love for God?

 

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Sons of God Through Faith

A man drowning at sea is suddenly thrown a life ring that splashes into the water next to him.  Taking hold of it, he is pulled into the boat by his rescuer and lives the rest of his life eternally grateful to the one who saved his life.  Like this man, we are each dying in sin.  Because of His work at the cross and the tomb, Jesus is the only one able to save us through the gospel that he casts out to us.  We must take hold of the gospel to be saved, but no one rescued would argue that we worked for our salvation because we believed, repented, or confessed ‘Jesus as Lord.’  No, we would adamantly claim that Jesus saved us through His gospel.

But what about the boat?

Why do so many in the denominational world ignore the boat?  Why is baptism not part of obeying that gospel as well?  After all, it is Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection that make the gospel possible, and it is in baptism that we die with Christ, are buried with Him, and are resurrected with Him to walk in new life (Romans 6).  Baptism is the platform from which the life ring can be thrown.  It is the vessel from which Jesus stands to cast the gospel out to sinners.  Why is being hauled into the boat by Jesus not considered essential by some to bring us from death to life?

I.  Galatians 3:23-29.  Often verse 26 is taken alone to prove by those against baptism that we are all sons of God through faith, and therefore, it by ‘faith alone’ that we are saved.  But the context of the passage shows that this is a contrast between the old system or covenant based on law versus the new system or covenant of faith.  What had been largely ritual in the Old Testament is superseded by the New Testament of relationship made possible Jesus’ work at the cross and tomb.  The passage then explains the process to come into this relationship with Christ, “As many of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  We needed to get into the boat.

II.  Titus 3:4-5.  In reaction to the “Church” at the time being very works-based, the Reformation of the 1500s and 1600s swung the pendulum to the opposite extreme and declared salvation to be on “faith alone.”  Baptism was seen as a work because it was something tangible, unlike belief, repentance, and confessing ‘Jesus as Lord,’ that we had to do.  Romans 10:9-13 is a passage often cited by the ‘faith alone’ crowd as it excludes baptism but tells us we are saved by belief, confession, and calling upon the name of the Lord.  But pressed, these same folks will insist that repentance, although not listed there, is also necessary.  Obviously, this passage was not intended then to be a complete list.  And, where we call upon the name of the Lord, Acts 22:16 tells us, is in baptism.  What drowning man would insist that he had worked for his salvation because he submitted to his rescuer pulling him into the boat?  Rather, Jesus has done the only work for salvation.

III.  2 Peter 1:3-7.  Rescuing sinners is not enough for Jesus; He also gives us the chance to partake in the divine nature.  After dying with Jesus, being buried with Him, and rising with Him to new life in baptism, we are “heirs according to the promise.”  We must continue to walk as Jesus did to truly abide in Him (1 John 2:6).  We must continue to add all of these listed qualities, one to another, in increasing measure to never fall and receive a rich welcome into the Kingdom of God.

Could Jesus save without baptism?  If He wanted to … He is God in the flesh after all.  But the method He chose that was to continue down through the ages from Pentecost was for us to believe, confess Him as Lord (cut to the heart), repent, and be baptized into Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:36-41) and then to continue living by faith (Romans 1:16-17) as sons of God through faith.

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In Him is No Darkness

If asked, many would say that Lincoln is on the penny … but it is only his likeness.  Jesus states that He and His Father are one (John 10:30), but how does that oneness come about?  And how can we get in on that perfect fellowship with God?

I.  1 John 1:5-7.  God’s character is that there is no darkness at all.  Light throws off no shadow.  God is good, for our good (Romans 8:28-29), so that we will do good (Ephesians 2:10).  We can live a lie and tell others that we are in fellowship with God, but we will only fool ourselves and some others.  We will never deceive God, who knows our true nature and motives.

II.  Colossians 1:15-20.  The Son, who claims oneness with the Father, is an exact representation of the Father’s character and radiance.  He has that because He in the flesh abides in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:8-11).  We are told to abide in Christ by living His commandments (John 15:4-11), a process which comes as a result of much discipline (Hebrews 12:7-14) but allows us to be perfected in holiness to share in fellowship with Him.

III.  1 John 1:8 — 2:6.  Fallen from the image of God in which we were created, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross renews that image in Him (Colossians 3:5-10) through the discipline process (Ephesians 4:20 — 5:2).  To share in oneness with God is to take on His perfect nature; then we can have fellowship with Him and other Christians who are also walking in the light as Jesus does.

To truly be Jesus’ disciple, our walk needs to match our talk.

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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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Bible.11: You Search the Scriptures

Can you imagine a husband checking off a marriage list at the end of the day that included items like told her I loved her, kissed her, bought flowers, warmed her car ….  The very nature of a relationship defies a checklist.  It is intimate, deep, and abiding.  And, while you can gain knowledge about your spouse, it is the application of that knowledge in your marriage that makes it a good relationship.

So it is with God.  Knowledge of His Word is not the end but only the means to an end.  It is what we are doing with that knowledge that makes all the difference.

I. John 5:36-40.  Knowing the Bible isn’t the same as knowing God.  This is what Jesus tried to get the Jews who were seeking to kill Him to understand.  He does not refute that their Bible study was diligent.  Nor does He dispute that in the Scriptures can they find the way to eternal life.  Their struggle was in application.  They refused to obey to know God (1 John 2:3-6), live them out, and recognize that they testified about Him.

II. Matthew 7:21-23.  Bible study is the means to an abiding relationship with God.  Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit and became like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:6-22), we have had to perceive the world through knowledge.  Animals have instincts; we must be taught.  This has many downfalls, but the biggest one is believing that if we are doing for God, then He knows us.  In our attitudes towards worship, attendance, serving, prayer, and His Word, are we “doing His will”?

III. Hebrews 4:12-13.  One of the reasons they, and we, refuse to come to Jesus to have eternal life is because we don’t like the double-edge on the Sword of the Spirit that cuts back on us as we try to wield this knowledge on others.  Neither do we like our deeds exposed by the light (John 3:19-21), so we keep from applying knowledge of God’s Word from becoming obedience.  We do not commit to an abiding relationship with God and so live in a state of quasi-light and quasi-darkness.

Many books have been written about how to have a better marriage, and these are people’s best guesses at situations that vary from spouse to spouse.  But, only one Book has been written by God Himself that helps us have an abiding relationship with Him.  Do you study it to love Him more?

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From Me No Argument

From me no argument, Lord — I accept
your will — come what may — events
delightful or traumatic. Be done
in me and in the world your way.

Omniscient God, I confess —
my ignorance, my lack of vision,
my limited view, and yes my blindness.
You know, you see, you cause to be.

Submission belongs to me — you love,
you care — you desire, in so many words,
communion, fellowship, connection —
For this, O Lord, come down to save!