Sunday, April 27, 2014

“Esther”


I sometimes like to ask the question, “Why are you here?”  It’s a question that can be taken several ways.  Why are you at Christ Fellowship?  Why did you choose to worship with us this morning?  Why are you here instead of some other place?  Or, why are you in Wise County, Texas or the United States?

But this morning I want to ask the question, and I don’t want you to answer out loud.  I want you to think to yourself why God has put you specifically where you are in this life?  What is your job to do?  I’m not talking about what profession.  I mean, to whom are you here to witness to, serve, minister, mentor or just make friends with?

If all you are trying to do is get through this life the easiest, wealthiest and most comfortable that you can, I believe you are not going to live as rich and full of a life as you could.  If, at the end of your life, all you can say is I made it; I got to the finish line, then what have you really done?  I mean, that’s the life of a cow not a Christian.

We have all heard it said that nobody, on their death bed, wants their stuff around them.  They want their loved ones to be there.  They want to know that they have made a difference in this life and you do that by making a difference in the life of somebody else; not your own.  Mark Twain said, “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

I fully believe that God has never created a person that He did not intend for them to meet somebody else’s need.  We all have a reason, a purpose for our lives.  Some people know what that is at an early age and some never do find it.  And for those who never find it, I believe joy and peace will be hard to find as well.

In the annals of history women have often taken a back seat to men when it comes to perceived purpose.  Men are the conquering heroes, the kings that make history and the most talked about, whether good or bad.  And women…women are their mothers and wives, relegated to footnotes and trivia questions from the history books.  You may have heard that behind every good man is a woman.  Or that behind every good man is a surprised mother-in-law.

But I can guarantee you that behind every good man is a mother who raised and trained him, a wife who loved and shaped him, a sister who influenced him or a daughter who motivated him.  And while the outcome of the man has a lot to do with the choices he makes, God has chosen those women to influence him and chose him to influence them as well.  We all have a reason, a purpose, a meaning for our lives and it comes down to how are we going to influence the people that are in our lives?

With Mothers Day coming up in 3 weeks, I would like to spend these weeks talking about 3 different women who had great influence on those around them.  John Cheever was being interviewed and was asked about his wife.    He said, “Women are an inspiration. It's because of them we put on clean shirts and wash our necks. Because of women, we want to excel. Because of a woman, Christopher Columbus discovered America."  The interviewer said, “Queen Isabella?”  He said, “Well I was thinking of Mrs. Columbus.”

Well, I’m sure Mrs. Columbus was influential but today I would like to look at the life of a woman in the Old Testament named Esther.  And you can find her story in, of all places, the Book of Esther which is between Nehemiah and Job.  The Book of Esther is unique in several ways.  It never mentions God or prayer or faith or so many other topics that the Bible teaches and yet you see the hand of God all through it, like the director of a play, just off stage directing people and events.

It is also one of the most humorous books in the Bible.  There are parts of the book that will make you literally laugh out loud.  It would make a great movie.  I can’t believe nobody has done it yet.  It’s another example of truth being funnier than fiction.  It’s a short book and easy to read.  If you have a few minutes and need a good laugh, go to Esther.

But since it is short and because most of you have probably read it before, I’m not going to spend a lot of time giving the background.  I want to get right to the meat of the book.  And its most famous passage comes from the 4th chapter.  So, if you have not already, I will ask you to turn there to the 4th chapter of Esther.  And as you do, I will briefly tell you what is happening.

Esther is a Jew.  Her ancestors were Israelites who were taken into captivity when Israel was disobedient to God and the people were dispersed and taken into slavery all over the Middle East.  God had told Abraham that if they were obedient that He would bless them but if not there would be consequences.  And they found out about those consequences.  But God also told Abe that there would always be a remnant of the Jewish people.  That was God’s promise.

The years come and go and kings and kingdoms came and went and the Jewish people are no longer slaves in Esther’s day but most had not gone back to Israel like they should.  They were comfortable where they were and you know how God is when we get too comfortable.  He is going to shake things up a bit.  Some of you can testify to that this morning.

But while they were no longer slaves, some people just didn’t like the Jewish people.  In other words, some things never change.  Even today, little old Israel is the lightning rod for hate all over the world.  And I will just add that God’s covenant with Abraham still stands and is all the more reason our country should support Israel since God said in Genesis 12 that “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.” 

But Esther had a choice to make.  Esther was the queen now.  She had been an orphan who was raised by her cousin, Mordecai.  But now she was the queen.  She was living the good life or as good as most women could expect in those days.  She had all the money, furs, jewelry and Cadillacs she wanted but there was a problem.  A decree had been sent out that on a certain date all the Jews were to be killed.

This was to be a holocaust on the scale of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.  Millions would be put to death just because of their nationality.  So Mordecai gets word to Queen Esther that she should go to the king and beg for mercy.  Let’s pick up with Esther’s response in Esther 4:9-17.

Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

This book was written about 2500 years ago.  It was set in a land that is on the opposite side of the earth in a culture as far away from ours as can be imagined.  And with God not being mentioned one time we can still see His hand, not just on Esther, but on each one of us as well.  This might as well have been written yesterday and with the title of “Carol” or “Morris” or “Anthony” instead of “Esther”.

Because, just like Esther, each one of us is here on this planet for a reason.  Esther was able to have influence over the king like nobody else in the kingdom.  And do you know how she got that influence?  I’ll be honest with you.  Esther may have been sweet and nice and wise and smart but she got to be queen because she was good looking.  She entered a beauty pageant that had no interview section.  She never got to answer a question about world peace.  It was all based on physical beauty.  And God had given her that gift of beauty, I believe, as did Mordecai, for this very reason; for this very situation.

And while that worked for Esther, I’m pretty sure some of us aren’t here because of our ravishing good looks.  Now, I understand that short, fat and bald is the new tall, dark and handsome but even so, I believe that some of us are going to have to rely on something besides our looks to make full use of our influence.  But whatever gift God has given you, He has not given it to you to be used selfishly.

God has given us all gifts that are, of course, to be used for His glory.  But these gifts also open doors to people that otherwise might not be opened.  Do you realize that the first event that led to David becoming king happened because he was good with a slingshot?  Joseph was a punk but he could interpret dreams.  Daniel was a good administrator.  And all of them used these gifts to open doors to influence people in godly ways.

I know.  You’re sitting there thinking that you’re not that good looking.  You can’t interpret dreams or even use a slingshot.  You can’t think of any real talent that you have.  Well, Esther’s gift wasn’t really a talent.  It’s just who she was.  And maybe all you are is “just” a good mama or “just” a good friend.  You have the opportunity to influence somebody that nobody else can.  There is somebody in your life, in your sphere of influence that you can talk to that nobody else can.

Maybe the gift God has given you is just the address at which you live.  And because you live there, you are able to talk to the goofy neighbor next door.  Do you see the significance in that?  You may be the only one that can talk to that person about Jesus.  You may be the only person to pray with that person.  Do you know that some people go their whole lives without anybody ever praying for them, much less with them?  What if God put you at that house “for such a time as this”?

Poor Esther.  Until she became queen she had lived a very difficult life.  Both of her parents had died when she was young.  And she was raised by her cousin in a foreign country where people hated her because of her race.  She had a lot of baggage.  She had a lot of problems.  It is my opinion that she had even made some bad decisions.  I don’t believe she was really in God’s will at any point.  She should have been back in Israel instead of trying to marry a man she didn’t love.  That’s why they don’t mention God and why they don’t ever pray because people outside of God’s will don’t pray.  And yet, God used her when she allowed herself to be used by God.

If you don’t know the story, here’s a spoiler alert.  Esther does go to the king, he does extend his scepter towards her and he does prevent the genocide of the Jewish people.  It says that the king was pleased to see Esther and wanted to grant her wish.  Who would ever have believed that a poor orphan would grow up to be able to request such a huge thing from the king of Persia?  But everything in her past had actually led up to this moment.  Every bad circumstance, every bad break, every bad decision was leading Esther to be where she was supposed to be and do what she was supposed to do and say what she was supposed to say.

And this was ordained by God because it was His will, His plan and His promise to Abraham so many years before that there would always be a remnant of God’s chosen people and that they would be blessed wherever they were.  And it happened because Esther had gone through all that she had gone through just to get there.

I’ve told you before about my friend Scott Parrish being able to talk to a man in New Orleans that I was not able to talk to.  Scott and I and several others went down there after Hurricane Katrina and we tried to help some folks affected by the flooding.  We were shoveling mud out of this old man’s house and he was glad we were doing that but try as I may, he didn’t want to hear anything from me about the Lord.

He was mad at God for killing his son.  That’s what he kept saying over and over.  But Scott, who had lost his own son at about the same time the man had, was able to talk to him and give him another view of God.  I wanted to quote chapter and verse and even go “hellfire and brimstone” on him if I had to.  But Scott, with his horrible, painful, unfair baggage was able to be the man God used, not me.  And who knows but what Scott had to endure that pain for such a time as this.

I want to go back now to verse 14.  I am fascinated by this verse, spoken by her cousin Mordecai.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.

Relief and deliverance will come from another place?  What place?  Does he mean another person or another country? Will it be Mordecai himself or will it be another Jew or from where?  Do you know the answers to those questions?  Because I don’t.  And I don’t believe Mordecai knew either.  But even if he wasn’t in the will of God, he knew what the will of God was for the Jews and so he knew that God would make sure His will was done, with or without Esther.

And it is the same for us today.  We don’t always know what God’s will is in every situation of our lives but we can know some things that are His will.  We saw last week that it is most definitely His will for us to go and make disciples of all nations.  And His will is going to be done.  Now, you may say, “Why should I worry about it?  Why should I get involved if somebody else is going to do it if I don’t?”

Look what Mordecai is saying to Esther.  If you don’t then somebody else will but in the meantime, you will pay the price for your disobedience.  In other words, you can get in the boat and help paddle upstream or you can just float along and go downstream with everybody else right over the waterfall.  God’s will is going to be done in this church to the best of our abilities and with the help of the Holy Spirit to guide and give wisdom.

And you can be a part of God’s will in this church or not.  You can be a part of God’s will in your neighbor’s life or your child’s life or anybody’s life…or not.  You can do it but, while God provides everything you need to do it, you still have to put out the effort to do it.  God provides the opportunity, the boldness, the words.  All you have to do is take that step, say yes, knowing that it is possible that you will crash and burn but even if you do that God will bless you for your obedience.

It is God’s will that we tell others about Jesus, inviting them to church, inviting them into our lives so that we can make them into disciples like we are and more.  And if you don’t do it then hopefully somebody else will but you will forfeit your blessing and instead receive the consequences.  I haven’t talked about it in a while but BOOCOD is all through the Bible.  Some of you know what BOOCOD is.

BOOCOD is the concept of there being blessings of obedience and consequences for disobedience.  Through the life of Esther, through the life of David, Adam and Eve, Moses, Abraham, Peter, Paul and on into our own lives we can look back and see that when we do God’s will, He blesses us and when we don’t, there are consequences.  Will you do what you are supposed to, go where you are supposed to go and say what you are supposed to say?

If you don’t then who will?  And who knows, maybe with your special gifts and even through the bad choices you have made that you have come to your position for such a time as this?

Monday, April 21, 2014

“First Words / Last Words” – John 19:28-30 & Matt.28:16-20


Famous last words have always fascinated me.  You may have heard the famous last words of a redneck:  “Hey guys!  Watch this!”  There is something meaningful about your last words.  We all hope that the last words we say before we die are powerful, insightful and worthy of remembering; not “Hey guys!  Watch this!”

 

Some people are recognized by their last words.  If I said “Todd Beamer” you may not remember him but you will remember his last words as, “Let’s roll!”  He was the passenger on Flight 93 that was hijacked on 9/11 who led the other passengers to try to reclaim the airplane and saved so many lives.  Those words give me chill bumps still today.

 

Some people say the obvious when they die.  Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame said, “I’d rather be skiing.”  John Lennon said, “I’m shot.”  Spike Milligan said, “I told you I was ill.”  And one of my favorites is General John Sedgewick who bravely faced the enemy troops on the far side of the field and said, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist…”

 

But what about first words?  When a baby says their first word it is a joyful occasion.  I understand that the majority of time a baby’s first word is “dada”.  It’s supposedly easier to say than “mama” for a little one.  But whatever it is, it’s big news to the mom and dad and grandparents.  Phone calls are made.  Pictures are taken.  Mama writes in the scrapbook.

 

But have you ever been motivated by a baby’s first words?  Has a baby ever spoken for the first time and your life was changed forever?  Has it ever sent you on a lifelong quest to repeat what he said?  I hope not.  You need to get out more if that’s the case. 

 

We’re not told the first words of baby Jesus but I have to assume they were pretty much what any baby might have said.  Born of woman, Jesus, who was there at creation and who was and is and is to come, was born all human and all God.  I can’t explain that, of course, but we believe it.  Faith in Jesus as our Savior demands belief in his virgin birth as all God and all man.  And I don’t have a problem with that.

 

But this morning I want to look at the last words of Jesus as He hung on the cross and then His first words to His disciples after he arose that wonderful Easter morning.  His last words were profound and full of meaning and His first words after defeating death were profound and full of meaning and should send us on a lifelong quest to do what He said to do.

 

Please turn to the Gospel of John in the New Testament.  Matthew and Mark relate that Jesus cried out with a loud voice just before He died but only John tells us His exact words.  And while some people, in their last moments of life, may say something ridiculous and out of their head meaningless, Jesus cries out 3 words that changed everything!  He proclaims a simple phrase that literally means the world has completely changed.

It was a phrase that resulted in the great curtain in the temple being torn in two.  It started an earthquake and caused rocks to split and caused the nearby tombs to break open and the dead to walk out alive.  I challenge you to find anyone’s last words to be anything close to as powerful as the words Jesus chose to speak as His last.  Let’s read them in John 19:28-30.

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,“I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“It is finished!”  No more appropriate words have ever been said in death or dying than those.  If you didn’t know better, you might think Jesus was talking about His life; that He was saying His life was finished.  And while it is true that His mortal life on earth was done, that is not really what He was saying. 

According to my concordance, the Greek word that Jesus proclaimed that we translate as “It is finished” would be “Tetelestai”.  Tetelestai!  It is finished.  It stands finished.  It will always be finished.  And yes, His sufferings were finished but this word means so much more.  Many of the Old Testament types and prophecies were now fulfilled, and the once-for-all sacrifice for sin had now been completed.  (Wiersbe NT Commentary)

It was a word that would be used by a servant in that day to tell his master that the work that had been assigned to him was completed in full.  When a priest would examine an animal sacrifice to verify its worthiness and then make that sacrifice: tetelestai!  When Michelangelo finished the Sistine Chapel ceiling: tetelestai!  When Leonardo da Vinci completed the Mona Lisa: tetelestai!  The job I set out to do or was commissioned to do is finished; completed in full.

 

But the most meaningful use of the word for us today and as Jesus would have intended it would be used by a merchant who had a debt owed to him.  When the debtor came to him and would pay the debt in full, that merchant would give him a receipt with the word “tetelestai” written across it in bold letters, meaning this debt has been paid in full; nothing else is needed.

 

Every now and then you may clip a coupon for something free at the store.  Not very often and rarely is it anything very expensive but sometimes you may get a free ice cream cone or small coffee or something if you bring in the coupon and redeem it.  You need a coupon to get your rooty-tooty-fresh and fruity breakfast at Ihop on your birthday.  But if you have the coupon, nothing else is needed.  You don’t have to pay.  You don’t have to wash dishes.  You don’t have to do anything else.  Just redeem the coupon.

 

Well, I want you to know, my dear family, that when Jesus said, “Tetelestai!” He went to God the Father and said “Here.  Here’s the cross as my coupon and I present it through my sacrificial death to redeem all of mankind.  I paid the price for sin and it is finished!  Nothing else is needed.  Good works are not needed.  Baptism is not needed.  The Lord’s Supper is not needed nor anything else.  It is finished!  Tetelestai!”

 

He did that because God said that the wages of sin is death.  God’s standard for being able to live eternally in Heaven is perfection so when you say you are a good person and so you deserve to go to Heaven, you have misunderstood.  Oh, sure, I have lied before.  I took God’s name in vain.  I looked with lust but, you know, I’m above average on that stuff.  I’m better than most.

 

Condemned!  That’s the word God is going to use when you come at Him at the great white throne and say you are above average.  And how else could a just judge rule?  If you have broken the law, you can’t expect a judge to say, “Well, you have broken fewer than most so don’t worry about it.”  But Jesus has redeemed you like a coupon, buddy.  You have been bought with a price; a great and painful price but it has been paid in full.  And all you have to do is believe.

 

John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.”  “Whoever believes…”  Jesus said to the Father, “When Billy Graham believes: tetelestai.  When Martin Luther believes: tetelestai.  When that punk kid with a bad attitude and stiff neck and a hard heart named Todd believes: tetelestai!  All he has to do is believe.”

 

But…the cross was for nothing; Jesus’ life was wasted and His sacrifice achieved nothing!  If not for Easter!  If the story ended there; if Jesus had died and stayed in the tomb and His corpse had rotted like every other god of every other religion then we are wasting our time here this morning and every word I have said might as well be in Greek and we should just all go to the bar and get drunk.  What else ya gonna do?

 

But everything changed 3 days later.  Jesus didn’t faint.  He didn’t swoon.  He didn’t sleep.  He was dead for 3 days.  But on that third day His eyes opened, His muscles contracted and He walked out.   He commanded the angels when He was on the outside to roll away the stone so people could see in.  And then He told one angel, “You sit there.  The Marys will be here in a few minutes.  Tell them I have risen.”

 

“He has risen!  He’s not here!”  When I get to Heaven I want to ask that ol’ angel how it felt to make that announcement; to say some of the most important words ever uttered; to say words the meaning of which would change the world forever.  He has risen!  Those words cannot be over-estimated.

 

But as important as those words are, those are not the words that Jesus wanted to be remembered for.  He didn’t go to the disciples and tell them to just go around saying, “He is risen.”  When Jesus first saw the disciples, the first thing He said; the most important thing He wanted to be remembered; the most urgent command He gave is found in Matthew 28.  Let’s read Matthew 28:16-20.

 

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

There is just a little bit of this passage I want to concentrate on real briefly.  First, Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  The word authority means the right to use power.  The entire Gospel of Matthew stresses the authority of Jesus Christ.  He had authority in His teaching, in His healing, in his forgiving of sins.  He had authority over Satan.  He even delegated authority to the disciples.  And here at the end of the Gospel, Matthew wants to make clear that Jesus has ALL authority.

 

When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line. "Excuse me," Governor Herter said, "do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?" 


"Sorry," the woman told him. "I'm supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person."
"But I'm starved," the governor said.
"Sorry," the woman said again. "Only one to a customer."
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around.
"Do you know who I am?" he said. "I am the governor of this state."
"Do you know who I am?" the woman said. "I'm the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister."Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, pp. 5-6.

 

When someone has authority, there is no arguing with that.  And if Jesus has authority over all things then it shouldn’t matter what He tells us to do, where He tells us to go, or what He tells us to say, we can be obedient without any fear of the consequences.  It’s what the first church depended on.  It’s what gave Paul the power to stand up and preach.  It’s what gave Stephen the strength to forgive his attackers.  It’s how Peter slept in prison the night before he was supposed to be tried and probably killed.  If Jesus is in control, what do we have to worry about?

 

And the authority of Jesus is what this church depends on just like the first church.  Two Wednesday nights ago, we finished our video series on witnessing and I said to those who were here that we would have the opportunity to go out into the community the next Wednesday and knock on some doors and invite them to church.  So, I was interested to see who would show up the next Wednesday.

 

I want you to know we had a good group of people!  And it was a group of people who was not real comfortable doing this.  I think most had never done anything like that before but we had a blast and met a lot of people and made a lot of good contacts.  At every house they didn’t know what was going to happen or who was going to answer or how they would be treated but I saw faith in the authority of Jesus Christ that allowed them to do what they were supposed to do, go where they were supposed to go and say what they were supposed to say!

 

And whether they thought about it or not, they were doing their part at that time to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus in this Gospel.  When Jesus says to “Go and make disciples…” it literally means, “as you go, make disciples”.  As you go, go intentionally.  As you go to the grocery store, as you go to the gas station, as you go to Dos Chiles after church today, be intentional about telling others what you know. 

 

Tell others about what Jesus has done in your life.  You don’t have to be an evangelist or a missionary to tell that.  Telling that makes you an evangelist and a missionary.  When Jesus said “tetelestai” on the cross, it was the end of His bodily, earthly ministry.  But it was the beginning of ours.  We don’t do it to work our way to Heaven.  We do it because the One who died and was raised again tells us to. 

 

But look at how Jesus ends this command.  The One who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death and then became the victor over death tells us that wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever we say, He is with us.  The One who is in authority; the One who defeated Satan and conquered death; the One who deserved to cry out, “Tetelestai! It is finished” is with us.

 

Do you know Him today?  Do you have a relationship with Him?  I’m not asking if you are a church member or who your family is what you have done, good or bad.  I’m asking if you have believed that Jesus is God and that He can take away all the guilt and shame of your sin just by asking Him into your life to be Lord of your life.

 

You remember the verse I read earlier from John 3:36 that says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.”   Rejecting the Son, Jesus, in this life means God’s wrath and the Bible teaches that His wrath results in a real place called Hell for all eternity.

 

We are not guaranteed another breath so come right now and accept the free gift of God’s grace because then you won’t have to worry if those are your last words because the first words you will hear in Heaven will be, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” spoken by the risen Jesus.

Monday, April 14, 2014

“The 3:16’s” –Revelation 3:16


In 1961, the great, powerful old preacher W.A. Criswell stood before the congregation at 1st Baptist Dallas and read this paragraph from a magazine:

The cluster of preachers gathered outside the convention hall in agreement, “Yes, shouting had become out of place in our modern church services” But, they paused in respect as an elderly pastor in their midst began to reminisce with a far-away look in his eye: “I can still remember the last time I shouted,” he said quietly. “I remember it well. It was a glorious occasion. A wave of mighty power seemed to move through the crowd. In an instant, I found myself standing and violently waving my hands through the air. My legs grew weak. My voice was hoarse. Again and again, exultant words burst from my lips. All around me, others were joining me in the same frenzied spirit.” The old gentleman’s eyes fastened on the faces of those around him as he continued, “Some of you—some of you may think I was a fool. Maybe you’re calling me old-fashioned or even a fanatic. If so, it’s because you don’t realize the significance of what I had just witnessed. Indeed, it was worth shouting about. For you see, my brethren,” he added in almost a whisper, “Our basketball team had just won the tournament.” And the group quietly melted away.

Now, it is not my intent at all this morning to read this in an attempt to guilt you into being any more vocal or demonstrative in our church worship services. I am not trying to gin up emotional response or encourage you to say or do something that is anything but heartfelt, especially in today’s service. In fact, as we get into the passage for this morning, you might realize that the word “Amen” may or may not be the appropriate word for you to use.

But I want to ask you, and I don’t want an answer, when was the last time you really got excited as you worshiped? Whether that worship was in this building or at your house or driving down the road, when was the last time you got so excited you shouted? When was the last time you cried as you talked to the Lord? When was the last time you raised your hand in worship, not to be seen as holy by the people around you, but in reaching out to Jesus like you would reach out to touch a friend in serious conversation?

When was the last time your prayer time evolved into wrestling with God like Jacob in Genesis 32? A time when you told God that you would not quit praying until He told you something? When was the last time you were so broken by your own pride and hard-heartedness that you threw yourself down and begged God for forgiveness? When was the last time you showed any passion at all toward the Lord? When was the last time you really got excited about anything besides a basketball game?

We sometimes think how ironic it is that God would choose to use a person like Saul of Tarsus. Saul was breathing out murderous threats toward anybody that had anything to do with Jesus. He was busy taking them to jail, oppressing them however he could, even killing them. And we smile at how preposterous it is that God would change his name to Paul and use him to write most of the New Testament and plant churches and change the world like nobody before or since.

But it’s not preposterous. It makes perfect sense. God saw a man with passion and said, “Hey, I can use that!” All God had to do is change the focus of the passion and that was easy enough. And today we wonder why God doesn’t use us. We wonder why revival doesn’t break out in Wise County, why people in Lake Bridgeport don’t come to Christ Fellowship, and why people are so resistant to have anything to do with God or religion of any kind.

Cities are building more and bigger stadiums and courts and fields to play games on but nobody wants to buy a church no matter the cost. We have found out that the saying,“If you build it, they will come”only applies to baseball fields and movies, not to church buildings. And we sit here this morning thinking what a shame that is, but the obvious question is: what are we going to do about it?

How much is it going to cost? How many more people should we hire to the church staff? What’s the cheapest way to get church flyers into the mailboxes and hands of our neighbors? And while those aren’t all bad questions, our passage this morning might lead us in another direction. Let’s continue our look at “The 3:16’s” of the New Testament as we study the very last book, the book of Revelation. Turn to Revelation 3 and let’s read verses 14-22 to keep it in context.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Apostle John is writing according to what Jesus tells him to write and here he is writing to the last of seven churches. And each church represents a period of time. Each church represents a period of time on God’s calendar, if you will, starting with the Ephesian church in chapter 2 that represents the first church that existed right after Jesus ascended back to Heaven. And then going through time and the represented churches of Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and then, lastly, to the church in Laodicea, John writes the letter just as it is dictated to him by Jesus Himself.

And what makes this last letter especially poignant and applicable to us is that it is written to the last church before Jesus comes back; the church in the last days. In other words, it has today’s date on it and it is addressed to Christ Fellowship at 1301 North Main St. And in the words of Jesus, it is written by the Amen. That seems odd to us for Jesus to call Himself the Amen but understand what the word actually means and it makes better sense.

“Amen” simply means “truth”. When you say “Amen” to a preacher preaching a sermon, you are simply saying that you agree with that person that what he is saying is the truth. And just as Jesus described Himself in John 14:6 as “The Way, the Truth, and the Life”, He is again saying that He and He alone is truth and in what He has to say there is no error. And the first thing the Truth says is, “I know you.” Look at verse 15 again. It’s not pretty.

The Living Bible says, “I know you well that you are neither cold nor hot.” This is so applicable to this church in Laodicea. There were 2 other cities nearby. One, Heiropolis, was famous for its hot springs and the other, Colossae, was famous for its pure, cold water. But when either one got to Laodicea, it was lukewarm.

I’m not a coffee drinker but I like tea. I like it hot and I like it cold. But it is awful when it reaches room temperature. Lukewarm tea or coffee or almost anything is just nasty. And that is what Jesus is telling this church. He says He wishes they were either hot or cold. Isn’t that a bit extreme? Why would Jesus make such a bold statement as to say the He would prefer the church be cold and dead than to be lukewarm?

What is the opposite of love? Would you say it is hate? Or would you say it is indifference? Which is worse? If you went to your spouse and said, “Honey, I just love you so much! You make my world go around and I would do anything for you.” And then you gave them gifts and promised all sorts of good things. Would it be worse if that person told you, “Yea, yea, I love you too” all the while planning a sordid, squalid affair with another person or would you rather them say, “I just don’t love you anymore.”

Neither one are good but at least they are being honest by saying they don’t love you anymore. That’s what Jesus is feeling here. And it’s the same with us today. We come to church every Sunday, or at least when it’s convenient, and we sing “Jesus Name Above All Names” all the while wondering what’s for lunch with no intention of changing our lives to match His word or to be obedient to what He wants. And most Bible versions are polite as they translate the part in verse 16 that says, “I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” It literally means that Jesus wants to vomit when He thinks about that adulterous church.

Imagine giving your spouse all those great gifts and they say they love you as they walk out of the house and get in the car of another person and give that person a passionate kiss. Bleh! That would make your stomach hurt, wouldn’t it? It would make you nauseas. That is just how Jesus feels when you claim His name, sing His songs, trample His courts, and then live your life just like the rest of the world.

Isaiah 1 says, “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening
.”

It’s not that God doesn’t want our sacrifice, good deeds and prayers. It’s that He wants our sacrifice, good deeds and prayers in conjunction with our passion for Him. Those things, that stuff, those deeds will automatically come with a passion for Jesus but without them it is a great insult and it will not be tolerated. But that’s not us, right? Surely He is not talking to Christ Fellowship here. We are not like the others. We are not like Laodicea.

We have seen in verse 15 that Jesus speaks the truth when He says, “I know you.” Now in verse 17 He says, “I hear you.” You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Jesus hears them when they proclaim their independence.  He hears their pride.  He hears the indifference and the confidence with which it is said.  But the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness tells another story.  And it cuts right to the very heart of Laodicea.  You see, while its neighbors were known for their water, Laodicea had its own claim to fame.  In that region it was well-known for 3 things:  it was known for its wealth, it was known for its special black cotton fabric and it was known for its eye salve.

And that is exactly the 3 things that Jesus says that they are in need of.  He was making the point that the very things that they took so much pride in were the very things that they lacked.  And they lacked those things because those were the things getting in the way of their relationship with Jesus.  It was the pride, the self-esteem, the attitude of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps or being self-made men that made Jesus want to puke.  Jesus is not talking to unbelievers here.  These aren’t prostitutes and murderers and thieves out on the street.  Jesus knew who they really were.  He heard who they claimed to be.  And the hypocrisy was nauseating.

A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. "Why do people call me a Christian?" the man asked. After a moment's pause, one youngster said, "Maybe it's because they don't know you." http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/h/hypocrisy.htm



Well, Jesus knows us.  He knows us to go through the motions of worship.  He knows that we sometimes only do that when it’s convenient.  He knows our proud hearts and our stiff necks and how proud we are of our fire insurance but neglect the relationship with the One whose mercy keeps us from burning.  He knows us.  He knows how little interest we have in His Word and how lightly we take the Gospel.  And it is only through His omniscience that He recognizes us as believers because the world can’t tell us apart from them.



We look the same.  We talk the same.  We watch the same TV and movies.  We use the same words and laugh at the same jokes and wear the same clothes.  So, how can they tell us apart?  But Jesus knows us.  And He hears us.  He hears our protestations about how we do this and we give that, so look at us, ain’t we something?  But Jesus says knowing us and hearing us with all our pride…makes Him sick.



This has been a rather somber message today.  You may have noticed a distinct lack of jokes or funny illustrations.  It was that way for the church at Laodicea as well.  You may have noticed that Jesus has nothing good to say about this church.  In every other letter to every other church there is something positive to be said about that church.  But not here.  And it must have been eye-opening to that church.  And I hope it is to us at this church.



But while there was nothing good to say about the church, this letter is not all bad news.  Not at all.  While Jesus tells the church, “I know you” and then He tells them, “I hear you” he then tells them in verse 19, “I forgive you.”  Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.”  Can’t you just hear the shift in tone from angry God to loving Father?  Do you hear the firm gentleness; the resolute passion of a groom to His bride?  Can you feel the release of guilt and shame as we acknowledge who we are and acknowledge Who he is?



We have been talking the last several weeks about putting our focus on Jesus and this is what that looks like.  When we realize and acknowledge who we are and compare ourselves to God instead of the rest of the world, then we will have a focus on Jesus because we will constantly have before us His grace, His mercy and His forgiveness.  How can you be proud and acknowledge that?



When our passion for Jesus leads us to obedience to Him no matter what the world might think or say then we will start to see revival.  Then we will start to see peoples’ lives changed.  Then we will see our own lives changed.  We will have a passion for His Word; a passion for singing and worship and fellowship.  It will transform how we live and how we worship and how we tell others.  But it begins with us.



I knew my grandfather, my mother’s dad, as Pa.  Pa was a preacher all of his life.  He never was famous or rich but he had a passion for Jesus and a passion for people that affected a lot of people over the years.  I have heard him described as having an elevator witness.  He could meet you on the first floor and have you praying the sinner’s prayer by the third floor.  He loved to tell people about Jesus.  And I have no doubt that because of his passion there are thousands of people in Heaven that might not be otherwise.



But as Pa grew older his mind began to go.  He developed dementia and eventually died from it.  But even when his mind was not right he could usually be found with this Bible nearby.  It’s what he knew and what he loved and he studied it passionately all of his life.  My uncle told me a story not long ago about talking with Pa toward the end of his life.  He said that as they were talking, the conversation, of course, turned to Jesus and Pa grabbed his Bible and started trying to read a passage.



But his mind was so eaten up with disease that he couldn’t really read anymore and so Uncle Bill told me that Pa kind of quoted something but most of it was gibberish and it didn’t match anything on the page he had turned to.  But when he got through “reading”, he turned to Uncle Bill and said with a sparkle in his eye, “Isn’t that good?”  His mind was eaten up by disease but it was even more eaten up by a love for God’s Word; so much so that his natural, engrained response to the reading of it was to say, “Isn’t that good?”  He had read it and said it so many times it was just as automatic as blinking.



That’s what it looks like to have a passion for Jesus.  That’s what I mean when I say that a focus on Jesus will change your life and a Jesus-focused church will change this world.  But it won’t happen relying on our gifts and stuff and intelligence.  It only comes when we do as Jesus says there.  He says to be earnest and repent.  Turn away from our sin.  Turn away from the pride, the lukewarm attitude and the lack of passion.



And if we do then look what happens in verse 21.  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne.”  I can keep my focus on myself and make Jesus sick.  Or I can keep my focus on Him and sit with Him on His throne in Heaven.  I don’t know about you but that makes me want to shout “Amen!”



We don’t normally sing during the invitation but today I want us to turn to page 320 in our hymnals and let’s stand and sing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  And as we do if you need to ask Jesus into your life to forgive you of your sin and assure you of your place in Heaven, I would love to pray with you.  As we stand and as we sing, come right now and let’s pray together.

Monday, April 7, 2014

“The 3:16’s” – James 3:16


I would like to ask everybody that can to stand to their feet for just a minute.  Get just a little bit of space between you and your neighbor.  I promise I am not going to hurt you or embarrass you but in just a second I am going to ask you to stand on one foot for as long as you can.  I promise I have a good reason for asking you to do this and you will be glad you did.  So right where you are just lift one leg and when you can’t stand on just that one leg any more, just sit down.  We are on the honor system here.

Scientists have determined a link between how long a person can stand on one leg and their intelligence.  Evidently, and I don’t know how, but they have determined that the longer you can stand on one leg, the smarter you are.  It has something to do with how your brain is wired.  Now, let’s all stand on our heads for just a minute.  No, I’m kidding.  If you do that in church you’re probably not smart at all.

I thought that was fascinating but did you know that the book of James tells us something similar?  It says nothing about standing on one leg but it tells us how to know who is a wise person.  Just like standing on one leg is to intelligence, there is a test to see how wise a person is.  Turn to the book of James and let’s continue our look at the 3:16’s of the New Testament there.

James was probably the oldest brother of Jesus and was, according to Paul, a pillar of the church at this time.  He writes to his Jewish brothers and sisters about how they should live and everything he tells them is basically telling them to emulate Jesus.  Everything he says to do or not to do is just what Jesus would have done or not done.  When James says right off the bat to consider it all pure joy when you face difficulties, that is just what Jesus did.  When he says not to show favoritism, we know that Jesus did not show favoritism.  And when he encourages us to tame our tongue, what better example do we have of that than Jesus Himself?

So, what better book to study than James as we continue our focus on Jesus through the 3:16’s?  Because a focus on Jesus will change a person and a Jesus-focused church will change the world.  We see it all through the New Testament and on into our lives and that is what we want.  We want to change the world through our focus on Jesus.  Let’s look specifically at James 3:13-18.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.



So, do you see the wisdom test there?  In verse 13 James asks, “Who is wise?” and then he answers by saying, “the ones who show it by their good deeds.”  We say we want to focus on Jesus.  We say we want to change the world.  But do we?  Do we want those things bad enough to start emulating Jesus; to start acting like Jesus in how we deal with other people and how we deal with the problems of life?  James says that when we start to act like Jesus, we start to show wisdom.



I have given my testimony here before and I told you that I started my relationship with Jesus when I was a young boy.  But as I grew older there came a time when I took a step back and did some real soul-searching.  I wanted to know if the path I was on was the correct one.  If I was going to do this Christianity thing and do it right then I needed to be convinced it was the wise way to go.  So I took stock of the wise people in my life.  I looked around to my friends and family and the people I knew in and out of the church and made a mental note of who was wise and who was not so wise.



I wasn’t looking at intelligence.  If I had I would have asked them to stand on one leg.  No, I was looking for wisdom and that is different than intelligence.  See, I knew some really smart people but I knew that they may be smart but they did some real bone-headed stuff.  I looked for wisdom.  And those who I knew to be wise…had their focus on Jesus.  And when it came to dealing with the people and problems of this world, it was their good deeds that gave them away.



And we all know that it is because of those good deeds that we are guaranteed a place in Heaven, right?  Just seeing if you were awake.  No, of course not.  But I bring this up right here because I am startled and alarmed at the statistics I read about how many people sitting in the average church, sometimes for years on end, still believe that doing enough good deeds will get you to Heaven.

So, forgive me for stating again what most of us should already know about what the Bible teaches about how to know you have a place in Heaven when you die.  And it has nothing to do with good works or being a good person.  The Bible teaches that we are saved by God’s grace and through our faith that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for the sins we have committed.  And at the end of the service I will once again invite you to accept Jesus to be Lord of your life and to forgive those sins.

But right now I just had to make sure we were all on the same page about the good works that James is talking about.  It is not that good works get you to Heaven but they do show how wise you are.  But there is a problem.  See, there are 2 kinds of wisdom.  James tells us about them in the other verses so let’s compare these two kinds of wisdom and as we do we will see that there is a difference in their

·         Origins

·         Operations

·         Outcomes (Warren Wiersbe commentary)

First, let’s look at the origins of the two different kinds of wisdom.  Look at verses 14-15 again.  James talks negatively about having envy and selfish ambition.  Now who in the world would ever think to describe envy and selfish ambition as a type of wisdom?  Who in the world?  Everybody in the world.  Everybody thinks it is wise to look out for #1, right?  When you see that somebody else has something that seems to make their life a little better or a little easier then you want that thing too.  That is man-made wisdom.

And the Bible is full of illustrations of man-made wisdom.  To Adam and Eve, eating the forbidden fruit seemed like a wise thing to do.  Building the Tower of Babel seemed like a wise thing to do at the time.  When Abraham and Sarah were still called Abram and Sarai, Abraham thought it was very wise to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister and not his wife.  I bet he slept on the couch a few nights after that little mistake.

Ananias and Sapphira thought they were real shrewd telling the church they were giving all the money from the sale of their property and you remember what happened to them.  People today think it’s smart to work on Sunday just like they do the rest of the week so that they can have extra money.  And then they wonder why they can’t pay the bills at the end of the month.  That kind of wisdom comes from man. 

Again I will quote Proverbs 14:12 that says, “There is a way that appears right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”  The state of Colorado thought it was wise to legalize pot and now they wonder why traffic accidents are going up.  General Motors thought it was wise to not say anything about a faulty ignition switch and now they are recalling 2.6 million vehicles for a 57-cent part.  Parents today too often want to be their kids’ best friends and then they wonder why they get into so much trouble.  That’s called man-made wisdom. The origin of that wisdom is from the mind of men.

Contrast that kind of wisdom with the other kind of wisdom.  If you were God, would you send your Son to be born in a barn?  In the eyes of the world, is it wisdom that the King of kings be born a poor carpenters son?  Is it considered wise that Jesus angered the most powerful men of the time?  Was it wise that He had to die on the cross?  1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

That’s the thing about this other kind of wisdom.  It has the power of God behind it.  It has the proven power of the Creator.  It has the life-giving, life-changing, life-taking power of the Redeemer and Sustainer Who was and is and always will be.

An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.

"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."

The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."  Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen, Absolute Zero Gravity

Even the wisest of decisions made by the smartest of men are foolishness compared to God’s wisdom.  And that leads to the 2nd point.  We have seen the origins of the 2 kinds of wisdom.  Let’s look at the operations of the two.  Since they originate from radically different sources, they must operate in opposite ways as well.  What are the evidences of false wisdom?  Verse 14 tells us that envy and selfish ambition are the operations of man-made wisdom.

Now, just raise your hand if you are eaten up with the sins of envy and selfish ambition.  Nobody would dare raise their hand because none of us suffer from that, do we?  Like so many other things, we are blind to it in our own lives but we see it in others with 20/20 vision.  We see it in King Saul in 1 Samuel 13 when he makes the sacrifice instead of waiting like he was told. 

We see the envy and selfish ambition in King David in 2 Samuel 24 where he counts his fighting men instead of trusting in God.  We see it in the apostles in Luke 9 where they have an argument over who is greatest.  But we fail to see the envy and selfish ambition in the mirror when we want the number of people that church over there has.  We don’t see the envy and selfish ambition in our own lives when everybody knows we have a better pastor than they do and we have a better Sunday School teacher and we have a better pulpit than they do.  And our flowers out front are prettier than theirs.  Why are they so blessed?

But that is the kind of attitude you get and the kind of wisdom that comes from taking your focus off of Jesus.  1 Corinthians 1 says, “God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God.”  That explains why sometimes we don’t understand God’s wisdom.  He tells us right there in verse 29, “so that no one may boast before him.”  Your envy and selfish ambition will not be tolerated by God.

That is the operation of man-made wisdom or false wisdom.  Let’s now look at what true, godly wisdom looks like.  Look at verse 17.  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  Are you having a hard time picturing that?  Is it hard to see wisdom as pure or peace-loving?  Let me give you an example.

I have done a lot of thinking this week about what our options are for the property in Runaway Bay.  As you know, we can’t afford to continue paying on that property, especially since we are not even using it.  So, I have come up with some options.  Our first option is to do nothing.  Phooey on it.  Walk off and leave it and the debt just sitting there.  Let the bank worry about it.  I guarantee you that Donald Trump would do just that and he’s a pretty wise guy when it comes to real estate.

Our second option is to play the lottery.  Let’s all pool our resources, buy a bunch of quick picks and if we win, we can pay off the note.  What do you think?  Well, how about we burn it down and collect the insurance?  Maybe we can start a dance hall in there.  It has a great stage.  Or we can move our church back over there and tell everybody to come look at our beautiful building.  Look at us.  Aren’t we big and pretty?

I have to say that while none of those options looks right to me, I don’t know what the right thing is right now.  But my loudest, longest and most fervent prayer is that God would give all of us His wisdom about this.  And when He does I know that it will be pure, as James says.  It will not involve envy or selfish ambition.  It will be peace-loving.  We will be unified about it and even the community will appreciate what we do.

It will be considerate to the bank, the community and to the Kingdom, submissive to whatever God wants no matter what it looks like, full of mercy to any buyer or other interested party.  It will show good fruit in that whatever is there next will bring honor to God.  The word James uses next is “impartial” which literally means to be certain about.  We know that wisdom from above brings strength from above.  And lastly, God’s wisdom will be sincere, without hypocrisy or spiritual politics, knowing that whatever He wants us to do will be the best for us and for His Kingdom.

I count this test in Runaway Bay to be complete joy, a phrase James could appreciate.  I count it pure joy because I read somewhere – could it be James? – that if we lack wisdom then we should ask for it.  And when God gives us His wisdom that it ends with getting what is best for us and His Kingdom!  Why would you worry about little things like owing the bank a few bucks?  Our God is loaded and wants us to have His wisdom to make the right choices.

And that leads to my last point and I will make it short because it is obvious.  We have seen the origins and the operations of the two kinds of wisdom.  Let’s look at the outcomes of man-made wisdom and God’s wisdom.  James tells us plainly what the outcomes are for both.  He says in verse 16 that with man’s wisdom comes disorder and every evil practice.

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and told them in 2 Corinthians 12:20, “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”  Do you know what the world would call a church like that today?  Typical.  That’s why people don’t have the interest in church that they used to.  Who wants that kind of drama?  They can get that at home and stay on the couch.

But that is what happens when you take your eyes off of Jesus.  It can happen to us personally and individually.  And it can happen to us as a church.  But a focus on Jesus will change your life and a Jesus-focused church will change the world.  So, Lord, we come to you and humbly ask for your wisdom so that we can make right choices that will bring glory and honor to you.  Use this church however you see fit to further your Kingdom and change this world.