Circumcision of Christ [Colossians Pt.12]

Circumcision of Christ

Legalism: the belief that we need to earn or keep God’s favor by righteous acts or religious observance. It is the oldest form of religion. It is the way that many of us as fallen creatures naturally see ourselves in relationship to God. This was the problem that the Apostle Paul was addressing as he wrote to the Christians at Colosse. Once he lays the foundation of the reality of their faith, the basics of the Gospel and then the intention of his ministry, he begins to address the issues that need correction:

Colossians 2:9-11  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;  10  and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.  11  In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

Beginning with the authority of Christ and the fact that He has declared the work of justification “finished,” Paul begins to discuss circumcision. It seems that there is a fundamental disconnect in the minds of the false teachers there as to the relationship of the Church and that of Old Testament Israel. This disconnect is often in the minds of Believers to this day. The problem, I believe, is seeing Israel too much as an end or goal in God’s plan rather than a means to an end. We want to make their status as the “People of God” supersede the reality that God has, from the beginning, desired to draw all people to Himself. The promise to Abraham was more about the blessing of all the families of the earth than about the calling of a single nation.

This issue of Giving the Jews the wrong place in the plan of God (end vs. means) is the heart of error in much of the Church to this day. This pushes many into the notion that the rituals, (such as in the case of the Colossian church, circumcision) are to be a part of the religion of the followers of Christ. Others take the same principle and place more emphasis on outward rites and righteousness rather than an inward work of God on the heart. We tend to feel that if we have participated in certain activities or maintained a certain level of righteous deeds, that God will be pleased with us.

First, we need to understand the place of the Old Testament Saints in the larger plan of God.

Secondly, we need to understand the place of the rituals that they were required to perform and how it related to their relationship to God.

Then, we need to see how, it at all, this relates to our own relationship to the Lord.

This is what we did as we looked at Colossians 2:9-13. Putting it all into perspective we can see the purpose of Israel, their rituals and the place of Christian Ordinances in the lives of New Testament Believers. It is a discussion very much worth having and one that will help us to get these often misunderstood concepts right. I encourage you listen to the audio below and think it all through.

Circumcision of Christ – AUDIO

In Christ!

Kevin

By Him, Through Him, For Him [Colossians Pt. 5]

By Him, Through Him, For Him

Who’s in charge around here? Sometimes it seems like the bad guys are winning. But, as the old hymn reminds us, “This is my Father’s world, O let me never forget, that tho’ the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” Our discouragement is often from a lack of understanding and trusting in God’s control. The Colossians struggled with this too. They had been a part of a culture that was very superstitious and who thought that angels influenced the events of the world. Fear ruled their lives because they did not understand that Christ is over everything.

Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  16  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  17  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Being the visible representation of the invisible God, Creator of all things visible and invisible which includes the very idea of authority, there is nothing that overrules Jesus Christ! Verse 16 gives a list of authorities that relate to the invisible realm; angels or demons who exert influence in the visible realm. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” and yet we see that they too were created by Christ, through Christ and for Christ. Their authority is derived. The influence that they wield is only through the filter of His control. Like the Devil and his attack on Job, it comes through the permission of God for the benefit of His people.

We often forget that we live in a fallen world that is cursed because of our own sin. We expect that if God is good then life should be trouble-free. On the contrary, if God is good we should all be consigned to eternal torment because of our rebellion against Him as the source of all goodness. We are the evil in the world and should be eradicated by the Good God who rules the universe. Yet, He chooses to show mercy and compassion to us through the Cross of Christ. As redeemed people we live in that fallen world where the fruit of sin is constantly ripening around us. And yet we live in the midst of that world under the authority of the One who rules all. He will bring us through the difficulties of this world and carry us to His appointed end because He is in charge.

Romans 8:31-39 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  33  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  34  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36  As it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.”  37  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  38  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  39  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We can derive great comfort from this as His children. He is just in His judgment of sinners who continue to rebel. He is caring for and protecting His own. He will govern all things to His appointed end and there is no power in the created realm, whether visible or invisible that can thwart His will. Is the the God that you worship today? Can you trust Him to do what He knows is right?

Audio from this message is available by clicking the link below.

By Him, Through Him, For Him

In Christ!
Kevin

Knowing God’s Will [Colossians Pt.3]

Knowing God's Will

Knowing God’s will. To some this certainly seems impossible. To others God’s will appears elusive. And in some ways this is true, but not because God is withholding it from us.  On the contrary, if we know Christ as Savior, God loves and wants nothing more than to reveal His will to us, in order that we might live in it. The problem is on our side. We often want to know God’s will, only as it pertains to our important decisions. “Will I get this job?” “Should I marry that person?” “Will I be healed from my disease?” But God’s will is not a “bits and pieces” proposition.  As the Apostle Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians, he began with this very thing.

Colossians 1:9-10 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  10  that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

The important part of this prayer is not that it is a simple or partial knowledge of God’s will, but a being “filled” with it. In addition it is not a knowledge of God’s will for the purpose of temporal blessings of pleasures, but “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” It is about improving our relationship with God. Spiritual understanding, not just understanding.  It results in a life that is pleasing to the Lord, one in which we bear spiritual fruit and one in which we continue to  increase in our knowledge of God. Verse 11 gives us other added benefits.

Colossians 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

Strength from God’s infinite store for our patience and longsuffering through difficulties, as well as joy in those same situations. Suffering is a part of the human condition. It is the result of man’s sin in the world. As Believers, God is able to use it for good in our lives (Romans 8:28). With it, He strengthens us, purifies and at times, allows us to encourage others as they look on, drawing faith from our response to trials.

The interesting thing is, that when we are taking God’s will as a holistic concept rather than living in our own will most of the time and then trying to seek God’s will for the important stuff, the big stuff is not as big to us. We are not worried or wondering nearly as much, we are not nearly as nervous about the outcome because we understand that the same God who loves us and sent His Son to die for our sins, the same God who declared His will to us in His Word about how we should conduct our daily lives, has also promised to care for His own.  As we live for God’s will daily, as we apply it to the things we do all of the time, it actually frees and strengthens us and allows us to have joy even in difficult times. But we need to trust Him in the little things.

I really want to encourage you to listen to the audio of this one. It is such a major thing and when we get it wrong we often end up blaming God for not getting it right. In reality, we have been walking in disobedience for a very long time, ignoring the will of God until something important comes up and then suddenly we want God to be our fortune teller. We need this. We struggle with this. Paul prayed for the Colossians about it. We need God to move us along in this area. We need to look at God’s will as it is revealed in His Word (amazingly practical!) and strive to live in it, not because it will make Him like us more, but because it is the right response to what He has done for all Christians through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and also because it has temporal benefits!

I can’t wait to look into Colossians 1:12-14 next Sunday!~

Audio from this message is available by clicking on the link below.

Knowing God’s Will

In Christ!

Kevin

Love From a Pure Heart [1 Timothy Pt. 1]

A Pure Heart, A Good Conscience and Sincere Faith

Have you ever struggled with loving people around you? We are commanded to love one another as Christians. It is the New Commandment of John 13:34 and the thing that shows the world that Jesus came from God in John 17:22-26.  Paul tells Timothy that it is the purpose behind the instruction in our churches.

1 Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,

We looked at the first half of the verse last time The Purpose of the Commandment. This time we will look at how it comes together. There is an important series of connected concepts that are required to produce the love that we are supposed to get from the teaching. “The purpose of the commandment is Love from a pure heart,” but how do we get that out of the commandment? Well it comes from a “good conscience” and that from “sincere faith.”

How important are these steps? Absolutely necessary. The Love that we are supposed to receive and give is the fruit not just of faith but of “Sincere Faith.” That is a real and vital trust in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. He is God in Human Flesh who suffered as the innocent Victim in order to take the penalty for our sins and transfer to our account, His own perfect righteousness! But, in order for this to happen, we have to begin with our own guilt!

I know that guilt is a dirty word in modern American culture. Freud has taught us that it is bad and destructive to the human psyche. When it is abused it certainly is, but it is necessary for us as humans to acknowledge real guilt for many reasons, the most important of which is, that if we deny our guilt we will never be saved from its consequences. Christ died because we are guilty people! Therefore our “sincere faith” begins with a true assessment of our guilt and that begins in our conscience.

Our conscience is the thing inside of us that shows us our guilt. We can either allow it to do that and follow through with acknowledging and dealing with our guilt, or we can ignore it and pretend like it is not a problem. Unfortunately, we have been instructed by our culture that guilt itself is not our fault, but the fault of others. I know many people abuse others. I know that many people, religious people and institutions, abuse guilt for some kind of personal gain. That does not mean that guilt is bad, but that those who abuse it are! God made us with a conscience.

Romans 2:14-16 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,  15  who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)  16  in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Ultimately we will be judged by what we did with our conscience. The word conscience means “with knowledge,” we all know what is right and wrong at the deepest level. We are created in God’s image and a part of that is that the work of the Law is written on our hearts. Though it is heavily tainted and can be ignored, it is very real. We know when we have sinned. This knowledge of our sinfulness keeps us from God. It makes us run from Him in shame because we are aware that we are not what we should be. The Gospel does not just take away the penalty of sin, but it purifies our conscience too. It removes that barrier altogether!

Hebrews 9:13-14 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,  14  how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Once our “sincere faith” rests upon the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, our knowledge of sin, the thing that keeps us from God, is removed too.  We are washed clean inside and out.  We also get a “good conscience.” While our relationship with God is never in jeopardy if our faith is sincere, we still have a conscience that needs to be dealt with. We will continue to sin as Christians. We need to confess our sins regularly and to fix the things that we mess up.  The Apostle Paul said in Acts 24:16 “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” Thus, we should also strive for the same. We cannot abuse the gift that God has given to those who trust Him. If we do, we run the risk of proving that our faith is not sincere.

1 Timothy 1:18-19 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,  19  having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,

If we do not take sin seriously as Christians, it is because we really do not understand this. Guilt is not a big deal to us because we do not understand what it has done to us and our relationship to God. It destroys what faith we think we have. A true assessment of our guilt and God’s amazing grace in forgiving us leads to gratitude. It works itself out in what the Apostle calls “Love from a Pure Heart.” A heart that knows its guilt and sees God’s goodness is a heart that loves God more than any other thing.  Jesus said it this way, “He who is forgiven much, loves much.” (Luke 7:47)

How is your conscience, Christian? Are you dealing with the sin in your life and striving to maintain a good conscience? If not, it may prove that you are less than you believe you are. If so, you understand the mercy and grace of our loving God who not only took away the penalty for sin, but its power to separate us from Him. Confess you sins. Deal with your situation. God is faithful. Doing this will give you a greater understanding of His love and allow you to love more like He does. After all, that is the reason for what we are supposed to be teaching in our churches.

Audio of this message is available by clicking on the link below.

Love from a Pure Heart

in Christ!

Kevin

Faith, Love and Hope [Colossians Pt. 2]

Faith, Love and Hope

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What would you say characterizes the lives of His followers? Several times, the Apostle Paul refers to a set of three things that signify to him, the reality of someone’s relationship to Christ. These things are Faith, Love and Hope. We see it at the beginning of the letter to the Colossians as we read;

Colossians 1:3-5 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,  4  since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;  5  because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,

This is not a random statement, but a pattern that shows up in Philippians, Galatians,  1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians and throughout the New Testament. We are told again and again in our day, “Only Believe!” and indeed, we are saved by faith alone. However it has been said that, “The faith that saves is never alone.” It is always accompanied by good works. Good works or Love, is not something to be added to faith, but the necessary fruit of it!  I like what G. Campbell Morgan said about love and the Christian.

“Here is the supreme mystery and the supreme miracle, not only of the [Gospel] as it is declared, but of the experience of all such as share its mystery and become themselves like God in that they too, love those who are unlike Him and unlike themselves. Mark the persons involved: God, infinite in holiness and purity and uprightness, and sinners such as are kin to Him in nature (through creation and bearing His image) and utterly unlike Him and opposed to Him in character.

To be loved by God in such a way as to understand that He loved you in spite of you and not because you are so wonderful; that He loves you because of His goodness and not yours; that your situation is to be hopelessly separated from and that it is only by His grace that you can be right with Him, has to change you, knowing that love makes you love others who are not lovable either. Is this present in your life?

Then Paul adds to this, Hope. An unending, unyielding confidence that God will complete what He has started. (And when some wacko makes a false prediction that fails it doesn’t shake your faith.) The Gospel is not just the reason for faith but foundation of hope. We do not only look back at what God has done for us in Christ, but we confidently look forward to its consummation when He returns to restore all things to their intended purity and purpose. Even in the midst of great trials, our hope characterizes us as Christians.

And so, Paul was able to look to the testimony of Epaphras concerning the Believers at Colosse and say with confidence that he knew they were real followers of Christ because of these things that were present in their lives. What would Paul say about you based on these three things?

Audio of the sermon is available by clicking on the link below.

Faith, Love and Hope

In Christ!

Kevin

Jesus is Looking for Fruit

Mark 11:11-21

Jesus entered Jerusalem as their Messiah-King on the Sunday before the Passover. He entered on a donkey in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah. He entered to the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” But did He come in, simply to display Himself as King? Or did He come in to exercise His authority as such?

Mark gives us some details in his account of those few important days of Jesus’ life that the others pass over. His detail concerning Jesus’ only destructive miracle, The Cursing of the Fig Tree, gives us some insight into the rest of His work in those few days leading up to the Cross.

Mark 11:12-21 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  13  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  14  In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.  15  So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  16  And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  17  Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS’ ? But you have made it a ‘DEN OF THIEVES.’”  18  And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  19  When evening had come, He went out of the city.  20  Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  21  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

Many people see this as nothing more than a shallow and petty event. Jesus got mad at a tree and vented on it. People have issues! Mark 11:13-14 “And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  14  In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.” Jesus did it for a reason. It was a lesson to His disciples. This imagery is used throughout the Bible. Jesus is giving the disciples an object lesson.

Luke 13:6-9 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  7  Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’  8  But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  9  And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”

Matthew 3:8-10 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,  9  and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  10  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And even in a positive sense as Jesus went from His Last Supper with the disciples out to the Garden of Gethsemane, explaining to them,   John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  6  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

The Jews had plenty of opportunity to bear some fruit, as in the parable in Luke 13, but they did not. Jesus dug around them and fertilized them, but no fruit came, only greed and corruption. Jesus was looking for fruit. Jesus is still looking for fruit. The New Testament teems with this imagery. It is a sign of true faith and salvation:

Mark 4:20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Jesus did not die to make anyone religious. He did not dye so you could make a bear profession about some truths that are related to Him. He died to restore the image of God into His fallen and corrupted creatures. By faith, as we acknowledge His Person and His Work on the Cross, it needs to change us. Jesus is looking for fruit, fruit that is “worthy of repentance” as John  the Baptist preached. How is your fig tree doing?

You can hear the audio of this message by clicking the link below.

Jesus Is Looking For Fruit – Mark 11:7-21

In Christ!

Kevin

The Consequences of Repentance [Jonah Pt.8]

The Consequences of Repentance

What is the impact of the Word of God on your life? When it all comes down to it, we have to respond to it in some way. As Jonah “called out” the people of Nineveh on their sin, the Apostles and Prophets call each of us out on ours. Jonah said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown!”  and the people responded. They knew their sin and felt the weight of God’s displeasure.

Jonah 3:8-9 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.  9  Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

The King himself knew what had to be done and the bearing it had on the entire city. He did not make excuses or minimize his sin. He did not try to blame it on someone else or put it off until later.   “Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes” (Jonah 3:6). He humbled himself and threw himself on the mercy of God. He did not try to cut a deal with God. He did not try to manipulate Him. He certainly did not expect to stand on his rights and make demands. Even as a king, he was able to submit himself to the righteous judgment of Almighty God. True repentance does that to us. It makes us humbly submissive.  That’s right, humbly submissive. That is what God’s Word does when it finally hits home. He is the Judge of the Universe, the Creator of all and the Ultimate Authority.

But He is not an evil tyrant. Jonah knew that. Once the city had repented he went of to pout because he was not pleased about what God had done.

Jonah 4:1-2 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.  2  So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.

Jonah knew what kind of God God is. One who is more ready to forgive than we are to repent. Nonetheless, He is also One who will judge the wicked, those who, in their pride, think that they are just fine without his mercy. Those who continue on in sin without regard to His authority, His justice and His hatred of sin. Many think that because they take His name on their lips that He will be satisfied and look the other way while they continue on in sin.

Psalms 50:16-23 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,  17  Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?  18  When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers.  19  You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.  20  You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.  21  These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.  22  “Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver:  23  Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

We know that good conduct is not what “saves” us, but trust in the Covenant mercy of God. Repentance and good conduct is the evidence that we take God seriously. Do you acknowledge that God is the Sovereign Judge of the Universe and that He has the right to judge and find guilty all who live outside of His holy standard? If you do not, that is one more strike against you. Yet, as I have said, He is ready to forgive. Ready of His own initiative to extend mercy to the one who recognizes his own sin and is willing to fall on His mercy. That is why Christ came into the world. Not to overlook sin, but to give those who truly acknowledge their need forgiveness and mercy.

Acts 17:30-31 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,  31  because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

When the Greeks heard this, we read, “some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.”  So Paul departed from among them. “ (Acts 17:32-33) What is your response?

Audio of the message is available by clicking the link below.

The Consequences of Repentance – Jonah 3:8-10

In Christ!

Kevin

Love Perfected

1 John 4:17

One of my favorite ministries is preaching at Rescue Missions. I cut my teeth preaching at the Detroit Rescue Mission and I have loved bringing the the Truth and Hope of the Gospel to hurting people ever since. In coming to Lima, OH I have gotten to experience it a bit differently. The Lima Rescue Mission is a great organization.  There are plenty of opportunities to bring the Gospel to the men who are there. Detroit and Lima are a lot different. The ministries are a lot different. But men need to hear about the forgiveness and life-changing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in whatever context the Lord has placed them.

One of the pitfalls of this kind of ministry is that the men think in terms of the “One Sin” that has ruined their lives; that overcoming the addiction is what it is all about. Many, many of them make professions of faith as a sort of last ditch effort to reclaim their self-esteem and improve their lives and social status. But the Gospel is not a self-help program. It is a total surrender of self to the Holy God who loves us and proved it by taking on human flesh and offering Himself as the sacrifice for our sin and rebellion. This is not an action that requests nominal obedience for the sake of self preservation. It is an act that demands total surrender.

1 John 4:17-19 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  19  We love Him because He first loved us.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so we are in this world. If you want to know that you are truly saved, John tells us that Love’s purpose is to give us boldness in the day of judgment and to conform us to the image of Christ in this life. It is not “fire insurance.” It is not a little help in pulling ourselves out of the mire of our sinful choices. It is radical faith and obedience that results in love for God and what He loves.

1 John 4:20-5:3 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  21  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.  5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.  2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.  3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

We need to preach a “holistic” Gospel, not just at the mission but all the time. The Gospel is so much more than what it has often been sold as over the past century here in America. Yes, I said “sold as.” It really has been promoted as an opportunity for self-improvement when it reality it is the command of a Holy God to turn from sin and receive the offer of pardon for our capital offenses. It has been a compartmentalized choice to avoid hell while we live however we please. This is not the Gospel that the Bible tells us about! John tells us over and over in this letter we call 1 John that true faith is characterized by Faith (believing the RIGHT things about God, self and sin) Obedience (which is produced by faith not that leads to it) and Love (the proper response to the Love of God who loved us first!) This actually makes us “bold in the day of judgment!” not just remotely hopeful or presumptuously confident. The challenge today is to consider the claims and commands of the Gospel and use them to check your own profession.

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.

I encourage you to listen to the audio of the message from Monday night by clicking on the link below.

Love Perfected

In Christ!

Kevin

I Have Come to do Your Will [Advent; Week 3]

I Have Come to do Your Will!

Having taken the time to look at the PROBLEM, our sin, in Psalm 5 on the first Sunday of Advent and then at the PLAN, the Gospel, in Psalm 8 on the second Sunday, This week we see the PERSON who fulfilled that PLAN and solved the PROBLEM in our study of Psalm 40.

That PERSON of course is Jesus Christ.  King David writes 1,000 years before the coming of Christ into the world a beautiful description of His ministry.  He begins with praise for deliverance from the “horrible pit” and the “miry clay.”

Psalms 40:2-3 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.  3  He has put a new song in my mouth– Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD.

This is not a particular event in the life of David that he is speaking of, rather the condition of sin that we all face. This is evident by what David speaks of next.

Psalms 40:6-8 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.  7  Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.  8  I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”

Sin is the problem, but apparently, the bloody sacrifices of the Old Testament Ceremonial Law are not the solution. David begins to speak in what would be rather cryptic terms as he proceeds through this Psalm. God has “Opened his ears” to the realization that those sacrifices are not God’s ultimate plan. But then he speaks as though the pentateuch had prophesied his reign and that it would bring about the demise of those sacrifices.  And so, David begins to speak of the PERSON who would bring about the PROMISE of God to deal with the PROBLEM of sin.  Though it is veiled in the prophetic prayer of the Psalms as we read it in the Old Testament it is announced clearly in the New Testament.

Hebrews 10:7-10 THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME– IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME– TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’ “  8  Previously saying, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING, BURNT OFFERINGS, AND OFFERINGS FOR SIN YOU DID NOT DESIRE, NOR HAD PLEASURE IN THEM” (which are offered according to the law),  9  then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.  10  By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

This is the One of whom David wrote. The One who came into the world to do the will of the Father. (John 6:38-40) The One who came to save His people from their sins. Not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with the shedding of His own precious blood, once and for all!  Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

And so He was born. And so He lived and He died for this very purpose. To accomplish the PLAN of God for the PROBLEM of Sin in the PERSON of Jesus Christ.  As we look to the manger this year, as we consider the wise men and their gifts, the star that led them to the Christ Child, as we take on the cultural celebration that surrounds this event, let us keep in mind that all of it was the Work of God to redeem of from the Horrible Pit and the Miry Clay of Sin.

Psalms 40:16-17 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!”  17  But I am poor and needy; Yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

Let us who love the Lord’s Salvation use this season to magnify the Lord for His goodness towards us. Let us proclaim His great mercy to the world around us and remember that His humiliation as an Infant born in such destitute circumstances was only the beginning of woes for Him.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

Audio of the sermon is available by clicking on the link below.

I Have Come to do Your Will

In Christ!

Kevin

Our Need for a Savior [Advent; Week 1]

Our Need for a Savior!

It’s that time of year again! This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning our our celebration of God taking on man’s nature in order to deal with our sin. It seems there are a few different approaches to Advent, the Sundays being of different significance. I like the one that I first discovered that arranges the four Sundays before December 25th in this way.  1) Creation and the Fall, God’s authority and our need.  2) Prophecies of Christ, His plan to redeem is foretold.  3)The first Coming (Advent) of Christ, His earthly ministry. 4) the second Coming (Advent) of Christ, His heavenly reign.  Within this we see the entire plan of Redemption so that when we celebrate Christ’s coming into the World as the Babe at Bethlehem, we are thinking of the whole plan of God. The Christ Child is now in His proper context in our minds as we see Him lying in the manger, surrounded by Shepherds and Wise Men.

This year we are looking at these four events as they are given to us in the Psalms. For the first Sunday of Advent we looked into Psalm 5 to see that all men are truly in great need of a Savior. Psalm 5 is a Psalm of contrasts as David prays to God, contrasting the evil man with the righteous.

Psalm 5:9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.

This is an important text that tells us not only about men that we might consider “wicked,” but as the Apostle Paul quotes it in Romans 3 it is about all of humanity.

Romans 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN TOMB; WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY HAVE PRACTICED DECEIT”

David is aware that men are wicked and deserving of God’s judgment. The Apostle Paul spends the better part of three chapters at the beginning of his epistle to the Romans laying out this truth in great detail.

Psalm 5:4-7 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.  5  The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.  6  You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.  7  But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.

We see that in his prayer, David lists several characteristics of man that God is opposed to. Therefore he does not presume to enter into God’s presence on his own merit; Psalm 5:7 “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy…”Even the best of us require the mercy of God in order to approach Him. But then, was David, the “man after God’s own heart,” really the best of men? That man of bloodshed? That prideful man who counted his troops when he was told not to? The murderous adulterer? If not David, that prophet of God and the sweet psalmist of Israel, then who?

Romans 3:10-11 As it is written: “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE;  11  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS; THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS AFTER GOD.

You say, “Wow preacher, great message for celebrating Advent!” I reply, “Without this message of despair the beauty of the Coming of Christ into the world is not seen in all of its beauty.” It is the blackness of my sin the shows the true beauty of the Jewel of the Gospel. Like a diamond that is displayed on black velvet to show off its true beauty, the Gospel shines most brightly against the backdrop of man’s depraved state.

Romans 3:21-24 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,  22  even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;  23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  24  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Before we begin to look at the Babe in the manger, let us consider what compelled Him to come.

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,

I encourage you to listen to the audio of this message and to prepare your heart to celebrate the coming of the Second Person of the Trinity into the world. As the blackness of the sky made it possible for the Wise Men to follow the radiant star to the Christ Child, may the blackness of our sin lead us to the Jewel of the Gospel that is only found in the Person of Jesus Christ!

Our Need for a Savior

In Christ!

Kevin