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Best Practices of our Faith – Salvation

September 13th, 2009 Comments off

When you look at the news there are tragedies all around us. We have just ended the season of West Niles. There is the pandemic flu coming. There are accidents and violence. Families struggle and relationships are a mess. Parents are estranged from children, spouses separate from one another, children suffer, and evil men have their way. In our lives there is an emptiness in spite of all the stuff we try to cram into that empty place. We cry out to God for help, for salvation, and our Deliverer comes. Sometimes we don’t even know what we need to be saved from, but Jesus comes and the Holy Spirit draws us to the Father, and we are saved.

Salvation: It is a process (rarely happens outside of context) that results in a defining decision. That decision requires humility, but it is a response to God’s work in the heart of the unbeliever.

Let’s look at 3 stories to understand this important truth:

Nicodemus (John 3:1-21) – “You must be born again”
So here we have our first story. In the middle of the night one of the spiritual leaders of Israel comes to Jesus. He comes at night because he doesn’t want to be seen. Jesus does not have a good reputation within the cultural and religious leaders. John was a problem, and then John gave way to Jesus. But the things Jesus said not only challenged the current religious teachings; they were connected to the Old Testament in a very real way. The leaders didn’t know what to make of it. So here comes Nicodemus… and he doesn’t start with a question. He assents to the power he sees in the miracles of Jesus. Jesus cuts right to the chase, to the heart of all. He starts off with a rather startling statement, “If you want to see God, the kingdom of God, you must be born again.”
The culture was all about connecting to God. They knew they were God’s people, His kingdom. The nation was trying to figure out sin and righteousness, trying to understand and obey the Law, the only way they knew how to get to God. And Jesus says that phrase oft repeated, “You must be born again.” In our discussion of salvation we need to start with the words of Jesus. He is the fulfiller of prophecy, the very deity incarnate, so when He speaks, we seek to understand. This phrase has been used for decades by evangelicals in connection with salvation. We can hear Billy Graham speaking to a stadium crowd, waving his Bible, making the declaration, “You must be born again.” He didn’t have to deal with the post-modernists who try to say there are many ways to God, that there is a truth in every religion, every revelation, and no ultimate truth; the hippies were saying that in their day. They can say what they wish, but my Bible doesn’t agree. Jesus said Himself, “I am the way the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me!” Understand, though, that another’s salvation is something we leave up to God. He is the One that peers inside the hearts of man. Salvation is a personal thing, between a person and God and we don’t know what. One who is saved, though, will be changed by that salvation; but that is next week’s message.
“You must be born again.” He doesn’t say you must be born into a good family; or you must be handsome or pretty, or that you must even be a nice person. He says you must be born again. Birth is an event, but also a process. For you and I it is a roughly 9 month gestation period followed by the event of birth. The event itself changes us in the most dramatic ways. From a place of darkness we enter the light. We become more alive than we would have ever thought possible… if we had the where-with-all to think. Given a choice, we wouldn’t be able to see the benefit of birth. We wouldn’t know that we were doomed to die if we stayed where we were. And so at the right time, God moves things along in the way prescribed back in the Garden. And so the non-Christian, the unbeliever, the one who is far from God does not always see the need for God. He does not recognize his or her doom if they stay in their present state. And God comes along and draws them to Himself, so that at the right time, they recognize the Salvation God offers, they believe in Him, and they are born again.

Paul (Acts 9:1-19) – “I am God”
Then we come to Paul; formally known as Saul. Before Acts chapter nine he was a man pursuing God. He had studied the Law and was so sure of himself. He was strong, and used his strength to pursue those who said God was different from His. He would track down the Christians and kill them. And in the middle of his mission of self righteous judgement, God grabbed him for His purposes. Jesus appeared in a blinding light and Paul’s life changed forever. Paul went to the high priest and got official letters from them saying he could arrest followers of the Way and bring them bound to Jerusalem. And so down the road he goes with his men. Do you see him marching? So proud and full of the rightness of his task he was. He was the man of the Law, and the Law demanded judgement. None would find mercy in him for the Law must be satisfied. And then the light shone down on him from heaven. And the voice cries out, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul hears and asks who it is he persecutes, and Jesus says, “It is I.” Saul is blind and enters the city of Damascus blind, being led by the hand. For three days he neither eats nor drinks, and he finds peace with God. The God who met Saul on the road to Damascus was the God of history; the fulfiller of prophecy; not some opinion or fly by night theological creation. When you meet Jesus, you meet a man of history as well as a God of eternity. When you meet Jesus He reveals himself as God before you and lays open your soul to your sins. In a very real sense that exposure to your true self, your fallen nature, your sinfulness could sear your spiritual eyes just like Saul’s. When you meet Jesus you may see Him in all His glory, the light of heaven falling around you… and you will know this: You are a sinner. This is the one truth you need to understand about yourself if you are to become a Christian, a follower of Jesus. You have to come face to face with your humanity, your fallenness. Sin is anything that goes against the character of God, and there is no one who has not sinned.
The problem people have is that they think they are not too bad; they haven’t reached the threshold of sin and wrong, beyond which one is judged. Any sin, though, is enough to separate you from God. I am not just talking about ultimate judgement or issues of heaven and hell; I am talking about today. If you have not asked Jesus to forgive you of your sin, you are not forgiven. Jesus’ death on the cross is not applied automatically to all people, both in history and the future. Jesus’ forgiveness is applied upon an individual recognizing they are a sinner and can’t ever be good enough to get to God. That’s why God came to us. So we ask God to forgive us of our sins; we are specific, for our sins are specific. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive us. Have you ever come to that point? There are people who have gone to church all their life. They have served on boards, taught Sunday School, and done good works of service; but they aren’t born again – they were too proud to admit that they themselves were sinners, that they were far from God all the while they were working for Him. Church is about community, but at the heart of that community is that we are all sinners walking along this path of life, pursuing the God who extends His grace and offers salvation rich and free. All we have to do is reach out and take it. We do that by admitting we are a sinner, far from God; and we recognize that Jesus is Lord. If our only message was “you are wrong, you are a sinner”, we would be preaching the Law, for that is what the Law does. Jesus offers forgiveness from the condemnation. Listen to the third story.

Peter (Matthew 16:13-19) – “I will change your life”
We have Peter, who is man with a menial job. He is a fisherman, his brother is a fisherman, and his friends are fishermen. He is working at his trade when along comes the Messiah. His brother is excited for Peter to meet Jesus. Jesus calls to Peter and says, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.” And Peter does follow Jesus. For some 3 years he follows this itinerant preacher, balancing his following with looking after his family I don’t know how that worked, but I do know God provided what Peter and his family needed. Jesus dies and is resurrected. Wonder of wonders, and they wait. The Holy Spirit moves and Peter becomes not only a preacher, but the head of the church in Jerusalem. How does one go from fisherman to head of a church? In peter’s case, it started with his conversion. Peter believes that Jesus is the Messiah, but that doesn’t save him. He is not born again at that point. We see the progression of salvation as Peter interacts with Jesus and learns. Finally, in Matthew 16, it clicks. Previously, Jesus warns His disciples about the “leaven of the Pharisees”. He is saying beware of the teachings that push the Law, that teach that it is the Law that saves. Jesus finally turns to His disciples and asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” After receiving the answers Jesus then asks for their statement, “But who do you say that I am?” It is Peter that answers, and I believe this is the moment for Peter when he is born again. His statement is simple, “You are the Anointed One, the Son of the living God!” Peter knew he was a sinner. He was confronted with it again and again. Jesus needs more than just recognition of fallenness. Jesus asks for belief, for faith. In our fallen state we need to recognize that it is Jesus who has the answers, and so we surrender our lives to Him. We make Jesus our Lord. When we recognize we are sinners we recognize Jesus as Savior, as our Forgiver; but when we recognize Jesus as the answer, as the Messiah, we make Him the Lord of our life.
There’s the joke about the one armed fisherman who said it was this big (lift one arm up). Get it? Without the second arm, the other end of the fish, our claim means nothing. So as it is with salvation you need both statements. You need both halves to make the whole. You are a sinner, and so surrender your life – Jesus becomes your Savior and Lord! This is the heart of the Good News. Even though life is a mess and we are powerless to make things ultimately okay, God has already provided the Way. He has already done the work. Are you feeling crushed? Are you spent? Are you tired of trying to do it on your own? Here is the invitation from Jesus Himself: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Some people come very close. They struggle with pride which makes them think it is shameful to come forward in a church, shameful to admit they are weak. A man martyred for his faith said many years ago, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. Don’t let the pride of the years stop you from having a vital relationship with Jesus.

What people need to know to be saved:
They are a sinner, but Jesus is the Savior.
They must surrender (because they are a sinner) and let Jesus be Lord.

Categories: Best Practices Of Our Faith, John 3, Nicodemus, Paul, Peter, salvation Tags:

Emmanuel – God With Me

November 16th, 2008 Comments off

1 Corinthians 3:10-17 “10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” (NASB)

Sometimes we live life “out there”. Things are in motion and we just “go with the flow”. It is as if life is lived outside of us, and we have little input. Often this happens when we become driven by goals – and it is not always our fault. Consider the person who is deeply in debt and trying to pay things off. Life for them consists of a lot of work and scant money available for any “extras”. Life becomes “work long, eat simple, watch T.V. and sleep”.
For the one dealing with serious health issues life becomes consumed by doctors appointments, diets, drugs, hospital visits, and the like. For the one getting married… well, the focus is on The Day until it arrives. Sometimes we just let life begin to happen, and we, without realizing it, draw back from actively pursuing life and become much more passive. Life begins to dictate to us what we do, and when we do it. Then a big “out of the blue” event happens and we wonder where that came from, but often it came from our inattentiveness to life and health. It is that whole seagull at Niagara Falls story… Remember?
We need to stop regularly, though, and make sure we tune in to the life that is not “out there” but “in here”, in our hearts. 1 Corinthians 3:16 states this emphatically: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
So, we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. What does that mean for us? It should mean that we understand our purpose in life much better. It should mean that our course in life has some very definite direction.

Let me suggest 3 priorities that should invade our day to day life because of who we are in Jesus, and then unpack one of them.

1) Strengths: God has called us to a purpose and equipped us for that purpose. Look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” God has given us both general things like the Word and His Spirit to guide and direct and empower us for ministry, but He has also given us gifts. In Ephesians 4:12 we have that same word “equipping” used in relation to all of us in our ministry. My favourite part of Bonnie’s book Your Best You: Discovering and Developing the Strengths God Gave You is the following picture: “God gazes down at a child (let’s say the child is you), a big grin on His face. His eyes twinkle at the sight of you. An angel stands behind Him, holding an enormous book filled with every good thing. Page after page of strengths, talents, and breathtaking abilities. Qualities that are found in The Creator of this child. The angel thumbs through the book. “Most Holy One, which gifts will You give this child?” God’s eyes dance with delight as He ponders the wonders He can bestow upon you. He doesn’t want to rush this moment of joyous contemplation. He peers down at you, His smile growing. Suddenly, God throws his head back and laughs with pure joy. The sound is like every bird on earth singing all at once. Oh, He knows you so well. He knows what will bring you joy. The angel laughs with God. “Will you give this child courage? A love of nature? A sense of humor? Creativity?” The Lord of Heaven and Earth touches your cheek. “To this child I’ve already given the greatest gift of all. I have given my Child, so that we can forever be connected, in relationship.” Then God, overflowing with happiness, throws His arms over His head and dances around you. “But even still, I have every good gift to give. I’m generous beyond all human measure. The joy it brings me is uncontainable.” The Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, bends down and whispers in your ear, “Here my child. These are for you. I give you these gifts. Grow in them. Explore them. Use them to bring glory to My name. Let them be a constant reminder of My great love for you.” “Pursue that purpose… go after it with all your heart.

2) Salvation: People in your life who need to hear the Gospel. There are so many ways to picture life. Think of truth. You are following Jesus because in Him you found truth. THE truth. The truth that provides the answer to the question, “Why?” Maybe we can’t articulate it perfectly, or explain it well to someone who is antagonistic to us, but you know in your deepest places that the God who created the ends of the earth created you and wants a relationship with you. It is wonderful! It changed your life. Now look at your neighbour, the mechanic who works on your car, your financial advisor, maybe a child or parent or sibling, and they don’t know. You have this wonderful truth, and they don’t. What are you gonna do? What does God want you to do? There’s a song by Larry Norman that goes like this:

When you know a pretty story you don’t let it go unsaid

You tell it to your children as you tuck them into bed

And when you know a wonderful secretyou tell it to your friends

Because a lifetime filled with happinessis like a street that never ends

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation and let your laughter fill the air

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation and tell the people everywhere

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation to every man and every nation

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation and let the people know that Jesus cares

Look around you as you sing it there are people everywhere

And to those who stop and listen this sweet song becomes a prayer

‘Cause when you know a wonderful secret you tell it to your friends

Tell them that a lifetime filled with Jesus is like a street that never ends

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation and let your laughter fill the air

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation and tell the people everywhere

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation to every man and every nation

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation and let the people know that Jesus cares

1 Peter 3:15
“…always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you…”

3. Sanctification: People in your life who are your brothers and sisters in Christ. They need to be encouraged. They need someone to come alongside and challenge them to keep close to Jesus. We are a community here. It’s not about who’s better than the next one, or who has a more up front position. It is about working together as we all walk on this pilgrimage to Christ-likeness. Some of us may be further along than another. The only thing that means is that we have more responsibility to model and lead the way for those that follow.

3 priorities: Strengths, Salvation, Sanctification. These are not things to just talk about, they are priorities Jesus wants us to focus on in life.

Let me unpack the second one quickly. What does a person need to know to be saved? How do we lead someone to Jesus. There are three things, so they are easy to remember.

1. Recognize that you can’t “do it”. Do what? Do life – be good enough-deal with sin. The question to ask is this, “If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven?” No one is strong enough, or good enough to do it. Think Grand Canyon – it is just to big to cross. There is that issue of sin, and most people will admit it. Read Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23. In fact, the first 7 chapters of Romans is all about us not being able to do it. You have to give up – give up trying to do it all yourself.

2. Realize God “did it” for us. Jesus did what you and I could not. He dealt with the sin problem, and died for your sins personally. Romans 8:1 says there is now no condemnation for those in Jesus. Romans 6:23 says that the free gift of God is eternal life. And when Jesus does something, He does it all the way. There is nothing more to do, the work is done. Remember the Grand Canyon, He is the bridge. You have to accept what He did for you. How do you do that?

3) Release your hold on life, and give it to Jesus. We do that by confess our sin, and seeking God’s will. It is about surrender. The answer is simple – Christ in us; but it is hard, because it means we have to surrender our life to Him. When we accept Jesus we accept Him as both Savior and Lord, as Forgiver and Leader. It is not just a prayer and then life is all good. Romans 10:9-10 says “9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Do you see how it involves both the decision of your mind as well as the focus of your heart? It is not just about a prayer we said 20 years ago. It is about what you are doing with Jesus today. What are you doing with Jesus today?
Categories: Christ-likeness, priorities, salvation, surrender Tags:

On pride and ignorance

September 19th, 2008 Comments off

http://heroesheretics.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/on-pride-and-ignorance/

Do we truly believe in the power of God to transform lives? I comment on blogs, trying to articulate my beliefs to those who’s belief systems are different. I am not trying to save them, or anybody. It is God who does that. I believe that, and so I pray, and continue to say truly and concisely what I believe.

Do we have pride? More than I realize. How do you know something you don’t know? It’s like the category on Jeapordy – I’ll take things nobody knows for 500… In responding to this blog I realized my pride, that I did think I was better than him because I believed what is truth. That doesn’t make me better. Not even smarter, really. I believe I am an object of grace, that it is all God’s doing that I am here where I am. I have just accepted grace where he has not. I pray he will see God’s offer.

Are we ignorant? To often we are. What I do know is that to receive God’s grace one has to confront the sin issue in their life. One has to confront the question, “What is life all about?” which leads to “Crap! I can’t do it!” Paul used the word “Dung”, but the essense is the same. I am not strong enough, smart enough, good enough – I need help, because I am so tired of striving and struggling. Cry this to God, and you will find Him waiting with His arms open wide for you, with an offer you can’t refuse.

Categories: blogs, pride, salvation, Truth Tags:

Big questions – response to a blog

September 9th, 2008 Comments off

The following is from the July 23 entry of the blog http://heroesheretics.wordpress.com/ . His/her coments are in the italicized quotes and bolded, mine follow.

“None of the commenters explain why the choice of Adam and Eve is inherited. Why couldn’t God let each individual choose? Maybe Abel wouldn’t have screwed up, why is he damned for what dad did? Couldn’t God offer the tree to him as well? God apparently changed human nature because of the act of these two. The closest to an answer to this is that the act somehow cracked the mold of humanity or a spiritual law caused it to happen.”

What if the Garden was a probation? That as long as Adam and Eve obeyed the simple laws given, relationship with God was ensured with no barriers. If they had children at this point I assume they would have been given the same opportunity. How long would it last? I don’t know. The barriers came up when the decision to disobey was put into action. Could the world have been a different place if Adam and Eve had decided to obey? I expect the answer would be yes. Is it moral how God set it up? I believe it lines up with who God is, His character, yes. Oh, and I am damned by what I did, as you are by what you have done.

I have come to the point of belief and faith in this God, so my pursuit is to understand His infiniteness in my finiteness. There could be a whole different explanation that makes total sense to you or I but we just haven’t thought of it yet. To say with confidence that this is all wrong is to have a certain amount of pride in your (and humanity’s) level of intelligence and thought. It is always easy to prove something “wrong” through lack of understanding a reality that is beyond you. This isn’t personal, talk to me about quantum physics and I could with confidence say certain things are wrong, simply because that experience is beyond me.

If a characteristic of God as stated in the Bible doesn’t seem correct or to make sense to me (or you), it may be my (mis)understanding of how an eternal God exists and thinks, that is at fault, rather than God Himself who is whacked out. As I understand you in your pursuit of knowing God, you are trying to dispel all the things that don’t make sense to you, whether it is the traditional God of Bob the Believer or the Allah of Mohammed. Who is God to you now? I see that all this “traditional” stuff doesn’t make sense to you. Do you trust the Bible as an authoritative voice as His revelation? If not, why even bother with this “Christian” God? I find it odd that people will use parts of the Bible to show why God is evil or doesn’t make sense as if those passages are inspired, but then try to discredit other passages as if those ones are wrong (using the ones you have picked out as “right”. It gets to be pretty arbitrary. If your role is to discredit the Bible by showing inconsistencies, that is a different argument. Either accept the Bible and use the Bible as your starting point (i.e., what does this passage mean when it says this about God?), or reject it and search for God somewhere else. To argue that something doesn’t make sense to your own moral logic only goes as far as you – you can’t say something doesn’t make sense because the whole universe agrees with me, where’s the logic in that?

“But more importantly, there was really no attempt to explain why killing his son is the way to get rid of original sin. There is talk about having someone perfect to take on the sins. How does Jesus dying help at all?”

Why is death the penalty (or payment) of sin? I think the answer has to do with separation. The act of creation was about life, about existence. Physically, death separates the breathing part of us (our soul/spirit) from the physical part of us (and all other things that are physically based – life). Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from God’s presence. Sin produces that separation because it is anything against/outside of God’s character. For us as humans, God provided the way to bridge that separation by conquering death, which the Bible seems to indicate wasn’t an afterthought of the Garden. The choice wasn’t about whether to give man free will or not – that is part of the image of God. God’s choice was creation in the first place. It is free will that necessitated the choice in the Garden, for how can you have free will without choice? And knowing that there was a choice, God also knew that a created being could not live up to the same standard of who He was (deity), and so along with creation the plan of salvation was created at the same time in the Godhead.

“But there is no explanation of why Adam wronging God should affect me. How is a God that creates all of the suffering in the world because of one act at all just or merciful?”

I notice that we are descendents of Adam and Eve, and not created out of dust like them. It is that descendent stuff that causes the sin nature to be inherited. It part of man’s creation to have babies and descendents, to be fruitful and multiply. Does a baby die in sin at 2 months? I don’t believe that. I believe in an age of accountability (that is different for different people) where a person becomes responsible for their actions not just before men, but before God. The sin issue is universal. God didn’t create the suffering, and it wasn’t just one act. Suffering is the result of actions of people today – the murderer, the greedy power broker, the gossip who kills with words, the rapist, the self-righteous who don’t help others…

“And none of the commenters explain the necessity of sending Jesus. First, I don’t see how that it really changed anything. When we are “saved” by Jesus, we are just as selfish and sinful. Nothing changed in human nature with the coming of Jesus, and believers are no less selfish than others. If sending God was supposed to save us from original sin, why all of this talk about us still being sinful? If believing in Jesus made us less sinful you might have a case, but clearly Christians are just as prone to sin as anyone else.”

The Bible clearly states we have everything at our disposal to live without sinning. It is not will power or strength of character. It is by surrendering our will to the will of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Read Romans 8 for a great discussion on this. This is at the heart of the struggle of free will. It also answers the question, “Why was I created?” The short answer is so that we could become more like Jesus in our attitudes, words, and actions. We don’t become little gods, but our character begins to reflect the character of God. A great verse in 2 Corinthians 3 gives us the analogy of a mirror. When we look in it we should be seeing Jesus looking back at us – we should be reflecting God’s character in our life, primarily through loving our neighbour as our self. Don’t judge God by how people behave, even those who say they follow Him. The Bible is filled with how lousy we are at following God. Maybe some people failed because they were too busy talking about the Law and theology and philosophy that they gave little thought to what they should be doing to help others. Jesus clearly stated that people will know His disciples by their actions (primarily love).

And from Juy 31 about free will and sin:

“The problem of evil is how there can be evil in a world if God is all powerful and all good. One common answer to this is the argument from free will: God allows evil in the world, because only if there is evil can there be free will. We must be free to choose good or bad. This argument assumes that free will is one of the greatest goods, so God allows evil in order to allow the greater good of free will.”

The choice (free will) wasn’t between good and evil, the choice was to obey God or not. Evil is a result of the choice, not the other way around. Free will didn’t come with sin, it came with the creation of man. You still have that choice today. Are you going to shoplift something or pay for it? Are you going to cheat on an exam, or study hard and do your best? Are you going to ignore your neighbour who needs help because you think he stinks, or extend grace to him and see what you can do to help?

Categories: blogs, born again, Christ-likeness, creation, Garden of Eden, salvation Tags:

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 5

June 29th, 2008 Comments off


James 1:2-5, 12-17 “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

The new president of CSB Canada, John Launstein, runs an out tripping company that takes people fly fishing near Pincher creek, Alberta. He would love to sit down with you in a spare moment and talk trout, rods and reels, and flies. The whole concept of going out in the wild and sticking a man-made lure or a hook with a piece of nature on it in a river is to entice the fish to take the bait. The successful fishermen know what lures to use according to the fish you are after, the weather, the temperature, and a few other variables. They know you have to give the fish something they think they want.

And so we spend a few minutes on the phrase from the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” There are some key words we will look at, and then talk a bit about how to deal with temptation. Before we go there I want to make a couple general comments.

3 Comments:
The first is to consider the context of this verse. It comes at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer started with praise and the recognition of relationship… “Our father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…” There is recognition that God is our provider. Don’t try to win the fight with temptation without first putting yourself in place before God. Understand that it is God who gives you and I the power to overcome; it doesn’t rise from within our will. Take comfort that “greater is He (God) who is in you than he (Satan) who is in the world!”
The second is a comment about total depravity. You and I are bent to sin. It is in our nature that we were born with. There is a salvation that leads to forgiveness of the acts of sin, but there is still a root of sin deep down. We are called a holiness church because we believe the power of God is greater than that root, and that He has made available to us everything we need to overcome sin. We call this entire sanctification, or perfect love. I think it is best described as complete surrender. The only way to deal with sin is in a moment by moment ongoing obedience to the will of God as the Spirit works in your heart. Complete surrender doesn’t mean you can’t ever sin again; it means that as you walk in step with the Spirit you can make all the right choices that is holiness, but it is a moment by moment thing that is a life of surrender lived by faith. If you are not at that point of your relationship with God you are still bent to sin. It is like walking on a road that is inclined to the side. You will gravitate down the slope because the road is bent that way.
The third comment is about the need to ask God to lead us not into temptation, as if we didn’t ask it would mean He would lead us there. A better rendering of this sentence would be “help us not be drawn into the occasion of sin, and if we are, deliver us from the consequences of that sin.” Note the passage we read from James 1:13-15 “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” Most temptation comes from within us. It is when our natural desires get pulled out of proportion, out of context. Take food for example. You need it for health and life, but if it takes over, it becomes gluttony and leads not only to physical complications but spiritual ones as well. We are asking God to save us from ourselves.

4 Words:
The first is the word “lead”. This is the fishing word. The Greek word has connotations of being drawn into something. C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters has a senior demon corresponding with his nephew, Wormwood, a junior tempter, about how to get their charge, known as the Patient, secured for damnation. Through 31 letters, Screwtape gives Wormwood detailed advice on various methods of undermining faith and promoting sin in his Patient, interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine. These situations are all around us. They are highlighted when we are tired. They are highlighted when we are distracted. They are highlighted when we haven’t got full control of all our faculties. I grieve as I read and see the results of people throwing their life away in senseless acts. An 18 year old, out drinking with friends before graduation in Regina, trespasses on a golf course. He climbs 3 fences, one with razor wire at the top, and then tries to steal an ATV and drive it through the fence. He dies in the attempt. His 3 friends with him call 911 but there is nothing to do. A few hours earlier these guys were caught by police in a group of 20 on the same property and escorted off. How willingly do we run to these circumstances? It may not be alcohol, but invariably we all have weaknesses so that when we dabble with them, we get burned. So we pray, asking God to save us from ourselves.
The second word is “temptation”. This word refers to both trials as well as opportunities to sin. Note the prayer is for us to not be there. It is about the future, about avoiding the wrong place at the wrong time. You watch some of these mobs and riots on the news. You see people running to catch up, to get involved. In every sense of the word I would be running the other way. No good comes from that kind of confrontation, and then people weep because people are hurt and killed. Part of this issue is lack of control. We were living in Kitchener, Ontario a number of years ago. It was a bad snowstorm , preceded by freezing rain. As we looked out our living room window we watched a car approach a stop sign too fast. He went right through. A short while later there is a cautious driver. He manages to stop where he was supposed to, and then this yahoo at obviously too fast a speed. He hits the brakes and the car begins to turns sideways aiming right for the back end of the stopped car. Just before he smacks it he steps on the gas and the car somehow manages to go around the car without touching it. Ever been on a slippery slope? It is easy to get there before you even realize the ice is there – then things are out of control. Temptation and trials are like that. But look at the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
The third word is “deliver”. It is echoed in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” It is about being saved out of a situation. It is a plot in most movies and books, where the hero comes at the last minute to rescue the person in distress. God is about salvation – He is about helping and healing. He is God, The Lord God, Creator of the ends of the earth. Isn’t He someone you would like on your side? In a discussion about heroes people were saying they need a hero with a flaw; a hero they can relate to. I am thankful that Jesus has no flaws. And the flaws we have He came to save us from.
The last word is “evil”. This word is about destruction. It is related to labour and toil. Think of the fall of man. Here Adam and Eve were in paradise, the hardest part coming up with names. But sin and evil came in, and the result was expulsion from the garden and a life of work and toil, and separation from God. My wife wrote the following that is quite applicable:

Several years ago, I took a theology class at a small bible college in Southern
Ontario. I found I had an affinity for the subject, and delved in with great
delight and interest. I was often in the midst of classroom discussions, and
took joy in sharing ideas about God’s word.
One day, the lecture was on the
doctrine of sin. The focus was on the first chapters of Genesis and the fall of
humanity. Of course, as a long time Christian, I had heard and read these
passages many times. But this time, it was different. As I listened, I allowed
my imagination to wander into the garden, and walk where Adam and Eve had trod,
hear what their ears had heard. A feeling soon overtook me. I sensed God was
showing me something; guiding my imagination.
The awe I had felt soon
turned to deep sorrow. Unable to withstand the moment, I put my head on my desk
and cried. I was about to dash for the door when I heard the professor call my
name. “Are you crying?”
I swallowed my embarrassment, and looked up.
“Yes.”
He looked at me, mystified. “What’s wrong?”
Forty sets
of eyes turned to gaze at me.
“I’m crying,” I stammered. “Because of
all we’ve lost. We once knew the company of God. He walked with us as a friend.
We loved Him purely, without fear or obstacle.” I glanced at my professor. “I’m
grieving all I lost in the fall. I’m grieving Eden.”

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

3 things:
First, live life in the Present. Get focussed on today, on now, on where you are at with Jesus right now. There’s a guy that gets his car in the shop regularly for oil changes and tune-ups and everything else. He is focussed on the future in a sense. It is good preventative stuff, about what may or may not happen down the road. Unfortunately he is a lousy driver and his car never makes it to tomorrow because he rolled it while on a cell phone. He was good at spending time for future things, but he left the door open to for something to get him today. And sometimes it isn’t even our fault. This other guy – true story – goes fishing with a buddy south of Calgary. They wrap up after midnight. His buddy goes east towards Medicine Hat, and he heads west to home. He is cruising along in the dark and glances down at the speedometer. He realizes he is only going 70. He looks back up and sees the airbag and cows, in that order. He finally comes to a stop, after killing 4 cows and injuring several others. His SUV is banged up. He had a hole in his back window that his cell phone created. Long story short, we don’t know what’s coming around the bend. Live life in today. Make your plans, but understand tomorrow may not turn out like you think.
Second, know and live in your strengths. Use your strengths to overcome weak areas. A church gets their people to survey their commitments and behaviours. The object is to find where you are weak, and then to work on those areas. Imagine how frustrating that is. The analogy they give is one of a barrel with staves, and some are broken. You can only fill the barrel as full as the lowest stave, so fix the lowest ones… the problem is I don’t want to be a barrel. I may be looking like one more and more, but I prefer to think of myself in terms of strengths. It’s about usefulness. I would want to be a lion. I would be big and strong, near the top of the food chain – always a bonus. I would be fast, have big teeth, and would scare people silly. Others would look at the lion and say,” But you can’t eat watermelon, or swim underwater like a beaver, or fly like a raven. There’s a lot of downsides to being a lion!”I wouldn’t need to fly if I was a lion, or swim like a fish. I would understand that I was created a certain way and revel in the purpose of my creation. To constantly focus on my weak areas is self defeating, and takes away from my ability to live purposely. Looking at whom I’m not, makes me lose sight of whom I am. That is why I am excited about Bonnie’s book on strengths, as well as a shift in the church to looking at people’s strengths. Know yourself in Christ and you can overcome the temptations and weaknesses in your life. Bonnie did this strength based smoking cessation program. She met a lady who had a strong addiction to cigarettes. Bonnie helped the lady to discover her strengths and within 3 months she had not only cut down significantly her smoking, but she changed her peer group to people who were supporting her rather than dragging her down, she began to work on her marriage, she got a job, and all because she found out how strong she was.
Lastly, cling to Jesus. It is the power of Christ in you. Cling to Jesus.

Categories: Jesus Words, salvation, temptation, The Lord's Prayer Tags:

Jesus Words – Born Again John 3

March 7th, 2008 Comments off

It used to be said of many older teens that they were trying to find themselves. They would try drugs or sex or travel to Europe. Today, especially in the trouble filled world we want to find that answer to the age old question of, “Why?” Why do I exist? Is it somebody’s idea of a bad joke? I was going through a rough period in my life at one time and I sat down and wrote about a captain on an old ship that still had the wheel. A storm comes up and the seas rage, and the captain wonders if he will find a way through the storm. Sometimes in life the feelings are like falling. There is nothing around you to give bearings, nothing to grab on to. You search and search for the end but there seems to be no end, no way out.

Context: Proverbs 8:17 – “…And those who diligently seek me will find me.”

Nicodemus: member of Sanhedrin. He represents the aristocratic, well-intentioned, but unenlightened of the change happening in Judaism. He is drawn by Jesus’ miracles (verse 2). He had a searching heart.
Nicodemus’s eyes/mind were clouded by trappings of his church. This is one of the reasons why we are doing this series!

Conversation: Romans 8: 14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Verse 3: Jesus talks about the Kingdom (not heaven) as the focus. nb. 3:16 “eternal life” (not the same as heaven). He emphasized Grace over judgement. A kingdom is where a king rules, so the Kingdom of God consists of all those people who come under His rule (not the ones who said a “salvation” prayer and then go and do their own thing. Salvation means your life will be changed.
Verse 5: The Kingdom is spiritual in nature (esp. verse 8)
Verse 14-15: Salvation starts as a simple act of faith that Jesus did it all (3:16). Moses lifting up the serpent (context, lack of trust. They asked Moses to get God to remove the serpents. God didn’t instead He provided a way of healing if they got bit. Death (via the serpents) was the penalty of their sin. God didn’t remove the penalty (of sin), but provided a way so that in spite of the penalty, people were saved (lived). This is what God did for us. The penalty of sin is death. God provided a way to live!)

Calling

Become a follower of Jesus. Nicodemus did (7:50-51, 19:39).
That choice is lived out in everyday life (1 John 1:6-2:2).

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Deeds reveal heart. James 2:26 “…so also faith without works is dead.”
Worry more about the doing, not the “not doing”
Focus not on where you are failing, but where you are succeeding

Categories: born again, Jesus Words, salvation Tags: