Grace

If there is any singular truth that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions, all other systems of belief, it is grace.  In false religions, enough is never enough.  They require followers to sacrifice more, achieve more, suffer more, learn more, or improve more.  But the Christian enjoys peace with God by grace.  We need not fear the animosity of evil spirits or the cruelty of demanding, angry deities.  We never need to worry about whether our deeds were sufficiently good to earn a secure afterlife.  We never need to fear death or divine judgment.  We rest securely in the unearned, undeserved, freely given gift of eternal life with our Maker, who has promised to accept and embrace all who receive His grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

Charles Swindoll, The Owner's Manual for Christians

Authority

A new view of authority and a new view of society says that our culture needs healing not by rejecting our culture or its structures, but by healing the people who are in it.  They need to know what the Word of God says and be called to bring themselves under its authority. . .  under God's authority.

excerpt from a 2013 sermon given by Keith Myer, Harvest Baptist Church, Salisbury, MD

The 'How Far Can I Go' Fever

by Ron Hutchcraft

 

I wonder what the question most asked by Christian teenagers is? I don't have any formal research to report to you today, but I have been listening to teenagers for a lot of years, and a lot has changed over those years. But I'm not sure the big question they have has. It was and continues to be, I think the most asked. It's not, "How do I have better devotions?" Or, "How can I serve the Lord?" It's, "How far can I go?" Wish I'd have a dollar for every time I've been asked that question. And they're not talking about driving privileges when they ask that question. How far can I go? Actually, long after our dating years are over, you know, that still seems to be the question we're dealing with. That's too bad.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'How Far Can I Go' Fever."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians chapter 4. I'm going to begin reading at verse 22, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your mind; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

The Apostle Paul here is saying on behalf of our Lord, "Get as far away as you can from your old self. You're done with that. Don't flirt with that. Don't hang on to that. Take it off like old, dirty clothes that don't fit you any more." And then he goes on later in this chapter to define what some of those old self things are, like being deceitful, destroying people with your anger, cheating, stealing, bitterness, dirty talk, dirty jokes, and sexual sins. He says, "Be new! Be like God in your holiness."

Well, that doesn't leave much room for flirting with sin does it? It means being fixated on living up to God's purity. Now, unfortunately, we seem to be missing God's best because of what I call that "how far can I go fever". We keep asking how far can I go to the edge of sin without falling over. How far can I push the truth without actually lying? How far can we push our definition of divorce to let me or someone else close to me out of an unhappy marriage? How far can I go in flirting with someone without being unfaithful to my mate? How far can I go sexually without being immoral?

There are so many areas where we're like those hormone-dominated teenagers. We want to get away with everything we can on the edges of sin. That's just the wrong question, "How far can I go?" When you play on the edges of sin, you fall over and we're missing the whole new self that's the reason God redeemed us and Christ died for us.

It's not "How far can I go toward the edge, how close can I get to the edge?" It's more like, "How far inside God's boundaries can I live?" The question ought to be, "How far can I go toward being like Jesus? How far can I go toward real holiness? Purge the compromises, Lord. Purge all these flirtations I've allowed with sin. Take away this desire to get away with as much earth stuff as I can." We've pushed the boundaries, but God has not moved them and He never will.

You know you're growing up in Christ when you want to do anything to have His blessing and to be like Him. Then the question is no longer, "How far can I go?" But it's, "How pure can I be?"

Withholding

Are you living for the Lord or for yourself? Perhaps that is too general a question, so let me be more specific. Is there anything God is asking of you that you are withholding from Him? Is there any point of contention between you and Him? Not till every controversy is settled and the Holy Spirit is given His full place can He reproduce the life of Christ in any believer.

An American friend, now with the Lord, whose name we will call Paul, cherished the hope from his early youth that one day he would be called "Dr. Paul." When he was quite a little chap he began to dream of the day when he would enter the university, and he imagined himself first studying for his M.A. degree and then for his Ph.D. Then at length the glad day would arrive when all would greet him as "Dr. Paul."

The Lord saved him and called him to preach, and before long he became pastor of a large congregation. By that time he had his degree and was studying for his doctorate, but, despite splendid progress in his studies and a good measure of success as a pastor, he was a very dissatisfied man. He was a Christian minister, but his life was not Christ-like; he had the Spirit of God within him, but he did not enjoy the Spirit's presence or experience His power. He thought to himself, "I am a preacher of the Gospel and the pastor of a church. I tell my people they should love the Word of God, but I do not really love it myself. I exhort them to pray, but I myself have little inclination to pray. I tell them to live a holy life, but my own life is not holy. I warn them not to love the world, and, though outwardly I shun it, yet in my heart I myself still love it dearly." In his distress he cried to the Lord to cause him to know the power of the indwelling Spirit, but though he prayed and prayed for months, no answer came. Then he fasted, and asked the Lord to show him any hindrance there might be in his life. That answer was not long in coming, and it was this: "I long that you should know the power of My Spirit, but your heart is set on something that I do not wish you to have. You have yielded to Me all but one thing, and that one thing you are holding to yourself - your Ph.D." Well, to you or me it might be of little consequence whether we were addressed as plain "Mr. Paul" or as "Dr. Paul," but to him it was his very life. He had dreamed of it from childhood, and labored for it all through his youth, and now the thing he prized above all else was almost within his grasp. In two short months it would be his.

So he reasoned with the Lord in this wise: "Is there any harm for me to be a Doctor of Philosophy? Will it not bring much more glory to Your name to have a Dr. Paul preaching the Gospel than a plain Mr. Paul?" But God does not change His mind, and all Mr. Paul's sound reasoning did not alter the Lord's word to him. Every time he prayed about the matter he got the same answer. Then, reasoning having failed, he resorted to bargaining with the Lord. He promised to go here or there, to do this or that, if only the Lord would allow him to have his doctor's degree; but still the Lord did not change. And all the while Mr. Paul was becoming more and more hungry to know the fullness of the Spirit. This state of affairs continued to within two days of his final examination.

It was Saturday, and Mr. Paul settled down to prepare his sermon for the following day, but, study as he would, he could get no message. The ambition of a lifetime was just within reach of realization, but God made it clear that he must choose between the power he could sway through a doctor's degree and the power of God's Spirit swaying his life. That evening he yielded. "Lord," he said, "I am willing to be plain Mr. Paul all my days, but I want to know the power of the Holy Ghost in my life."

He rose from his knees, and wrote a letter to his examiners asking to be excused from the examination on the Monday, and giving his reason. He retired, very happy, but not conscious of any unusual experience. Next morning he told his congregation that for the first time in six years he had no sermon to preach, and explained how it came about. The Lord blessed that testimony more abundantly than any of his well-prepared sermons, and from that time God owned him in an altogether new way. From that day he knew separation from the world, no longer merely as an outward thing but as a deep inward reality, and as a result, the blessedness of the Spirit's presence and power became his daily experience.

God is waiting for a settlement of all our controversies with him. With Mr. Paul it was a question of his doctor's degree, but with us it may be something quite different. Our complete surrender of ourselves to the Lord generally hinges upon some one particular thing, and God waits for that one thing. He must have it, for He must have our all. I was greatly impressed by something a great national leader wrote in his autobiography: "I want nothing for myself; I want everything for my country." If a man can be willing that his country should have everything and he himself nothing, cannot we say to our God: "Lord, I want nothing for myself; I want all for You. I will what You will, and I want to have nothing outside Your will." Not until we take the place of a servant can He take His place as Lord. He is not calling us to devote ourselves to His cause; He is asking us to yield ourselves unconditionally to His will. Are you prepared for that?

Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life

Union with Christ

I'm currently reading The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee and while it's not what I would call an easy, light read, it certainly is thought provoking.  This morning's read was particularly good:

For by baptism we acknowledge in a figure that God has wrought an intimate union between ourselves and Christ in this matter of death and resurrection.  One day I was seeking to emphasize to a Christian brother the intimacy of this union.  We happened to be drinking tea together, so I took a lump of sugar and stirred it into my tea.  A couple of minutes later I asked, "Can you tell me where the sugar is now, and where the tea?"  "No," he said, "you have put them together and the one has become lost in the other; they cannot now be separated."  It was a simple illustration, but it helped him to see the intimacy and the finality of our union with Christ in death.  It is God that has put us there, and God's acts cannot be reversed.

I love that.  God has put us there - it is not something we have done.  He has decided before time  began who would be in the Book of Life.  And God's acts cannot be reversed.  In other words, He doesn't make mistakes.  So there is no sense in questioning our salvation.  It's been decided.  It's not something we can change, ruin or destroy.  This fact brings me so much joy and comfort.  It's like a fountain bubbling up from the ground.  And that's where our joy originates from - the fact that we are a chosen people, protected and loved.  Amen.

Satan's Lie

How important are our intentions?  Does it matter why we do good things?  If we are Christians and doing what we believe is God-pleasing, isn't that all that matters?  Or is that one of the ploys of Satan?  John Piper points out in his article "Don't Go Back From Sonship to Slavery" that Satan often uses morality in the form of self-righteousness as a tool in the war against us..................


Satan does not care if you try to keep the ten commandments, provided that you take the credit for keeping them. In fact, he will assist your moral resolve if you will do it that way. Satan does not mind if you come to church, or teach Sunday School, or preach, or work for the freeze, or lobby for a human life bill, or seek prayer in the schools—he's all in favor of whatever your moral agenda is, provided you rely on yourself instead of the Spirit of Christ and take credit for it yourself instead of humbly giving all glory to God. So do not be unprepared. Our adversary has a clever scheme by which he aims to ruin us and the church.

I know I fall into this category often.  Perhaps it's a weakness found in western culture - particularly this country.  After all, we just celebrated Independence Day, did we not?  We give high esteem to independence - as a country, as a society, as individuals.  "Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is a saying certainly revered in western culture.  Feminism was undoubtedly a program started by Satan.  But contrary to contemporary belief, it wasn't started back in the 1960's by Gloria Steinem.  It was started in the Garden of Eden by the 'serpent of old'(Rev 12:9).  We can make decisions on our own, live life on our own, do good deeds on our own, and as long as we are "good,"  God shall be pleased with us.  Except we forget we cannot be "good."  Not on our own.  We can do good deeds, say nice things and look good to others, but when compared to God, we will never be good.  Satan will have us believe otherwise and so we must be careful not to fall into his trap. ALL the credit goes to the One who gave His life for us.  And without His blood covering us, we are only filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  Thank you, Jesus.