A Christmas Wish: Big Government

Hooray for BIG Government! (A Christmas wish)

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,”

(Isaiah 9:7 ESV)

As I was preaching from this text this past Sunday (see it here) I had a wonderful insight. We, as God’s people, should be constantly praying that the government of the Prince of Peace would continue to grow. We should pray for his big and good government to increase. Certainly we desire Christ to have dominion both now and forevermore. We should desire this globally as well as personally. We want his will to be done in increasing ways. We ourselves want to increasingly submit to his rule in our lives. We ought to be supporters of the big government of Jesus!

Christ brings to us all the best values in life, since he himself is the source of all life. Ephesians 1:23 describes Jesus as “him who fills all in all.” Nothing would exist if it were not for Jesus. Not only is our reality fully dependent on him, he fills it all with himself! He fills our reality with infinite good!

At advent we have been emphasizing some of the lasting values that Jesus brings to his own. Jesus brings to his sheep hope, peace, joy, and love. He is called the everlasting father. His government not only protects us but provides for us as well! It is the ultimate in paternalism. He is the best daddy ever as he supplies all our needs according to his infinite capabilities. This is his everlasting role. As a daddy myself, there is no greater joy than seeing my children happy. But, since I am so limited and faulty I can only do so much. Jesus is unlimited and perfect! May his government increase!

There is a direct connection between his government and peace. The more his government increases, the more peace we will know. If you are not enjoying peace in the deepest way it is because you are not submitting to the King. Trust his government: trust him!

So my Christmas wish this year is for the increase of his government! I hope that you will submit to the Prince of Peace now and forever! I hope that his Kingdom will come and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May glory and majesty, dominion and power be unto him forever!

Why not Roman Catholic?

I have been meditating on the message of the book of Galatians, and thinking of how it applies to us today. It occurred to me that it fits pretty well as an argument against leaving the free church to join the Roman church.

The mixed Galatian congregations of Jews, Gentiles, slave and free, were being convinced to join or rejoin the Jewish community. There was a strong cultural appeal to do so. Paul admits to being perplexed about this trend. (4:20) He says “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” (4:8-11)

Paul describes following a legalistic cultural ritual as slavery. He says that rituals, even those given by God himself, are worthless elementary principles. He is dumfounded that those baptized into Christ would return to worthless legalistic formalized rituals.

I am sure there were many people pressuring them with arguments about the beauty of the old ways, and the disorganization of the new free church. But in this strong little book Paul argues that we must maintain our freedom. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (5:1)

Paul goes on to argue even more strongly. He states that people depending on a legalistic formalized ritual will actually lose any benefit from Christ. This, sadly, is exactly what happens in the ritual churches. While some are simply worshipping using the symbols of the rituals, others are actually depending on those rituals for their salvation. Legalistic formalized religions are massively misleading many of their adherents. Some, in the name of Christ, are condemning millions.

It is not wrong to make rituals, but we must watch them carefully. The Bible is formula free. There are no set rituals for communion, prayer, worship services, baptism, or anything else, for that matter. We are free to create our own rituals. There is no indication that the early church followed any centralized authority when it comes to rituals. There is an inspired silence on these things. We are free.

Self-Love or God’s Love

“…who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2: 20 - 21)

Paul is emphatic that there is no middle ground. There are only two possibilities. One either pleases God by working a little harder with what he has, or he depends on the death of Christ. Our faith is not about helping people to live more morally. We do not want to tell people to live by the Ten Commandments. You can do really well at being good and living by the Ten Commandments or the Five Pillars or whatever moral code you can imagine and you will not please God. God will still be very angry with you. We simply do not have the ability to please him.

There are only two basic approaches to God. Either you believe that he is a little miffed at you and you can make it better by doing little things to make him happy, or you believe that your moral debt is so massive that only the death of Jesus will save you. All world religions can be understood in one of these two categories.

The verse above is powerful because it says that if a person were able to work hard enough to please God and make it into heaven on his own then it was a waste for Christ to die. Jesus Christ did not die because we are just a little too lazy to save ourselves. He did not die for people who have the ability to please God if only they find the right mix of rules to keep and kept them. No, he died for sinners because that is the only way they could get right with God.

This is why the Bible is so insistent that there is only one way of salvation. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

(Acts 4:12) Anyone who is not trusting in Christ is trying to save himself, and since that is impossible they are going to be unsaved when all is said and done.

But here is the rub when talking about this to our culture: most Americans are not really trying to work hard to save themselves. We are pretty convinced that we’re in pretty good shape already. We are not at all worried about the wrath of God. Christ’s death does not make sense to us, really. Thanks but no thanks. It seems to me that we are pretty convinced that we just need to show up and it will be OK. Our religion is self-love. When you really love yourself, why do you need God’s potent love? One popular song of our culture was sung by Whitney Houston in 1985 and written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed:

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I'll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

It is the greatest love of all

Our moral standards are pretty low. I saw a bumper sticker that said “Born OK the first time.” Later I saw that the car had been totaled in an accident. Hmmm. Maybe there is hope.

So how do we go about convincing our neighbors that Christ died for a very important reason: their salvation? That, thankfully, is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit of God. We are called to preach Christ, and him crucified. Most people think it is foolishness, but that is our call. The more you think about Christ’s death the more you can understand your problem.

Must I Be Carried to the Skies On Flowery Beds of Ease?

 

Joshua 23: 4 Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.   …10 One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.

 

This is a very instructive teaching at the end of Joshua.   Joshua is giving his final instructions to the tribes of Israel.  What he tells them here is that by his design they still have enemies to face in their tribal areas.  The battles are not over.  They too must fight to enter into the promised rest.  This is exactly why God has each of us here on the earth.  He has allotted us enemies that we must conquer.   Notice that neither does God ever say “Let go and let God.”  No, he calls us to face our enemies.  Notice verse ten above.  It tells us that the enemies that God allots to us will overwhelm us, if God does not fight for us.  We will at least be out-numbered by a thousand to one!   God designs that we will be overwhelmed so that we will work and trust at the same time. 

 

As James says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  We are called to faith and action.  We know that our action cannot achieve the victory unless God in his grace chooses to bless us. 

 

Be encouraged in your struggles.  Our Good King allots the troubles you face.  He commands us to work for solutions and pray for victory.   

 

Remember the old Isaac Watts hymn: 

 

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

 

Are there no foes for me to face?

Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace,

To help me on to God?

 

Sure I must fight if I would reign;

Increase my courage, Lord.

I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by Thy Word.

New Video

Hey!  I found a decent section of a sermon of mine from 2006.  Its 6.5 minutes long.    I called it "Vision for Ministry." 

Also I posted a nice (simple) video of Alex singing one of his great songs, "You Break My Will."

Find them here! 

http://www.fbcmonterey.org/video.php

Why a “Local Church?”

 

If our vision is to be a local church truly living for the living God how should we strive for that? 

           

Paul trains Timothy exactly for this.   It may never have occurred to Paul that he could just write up a series of lessons and sermons for Timothy to use.  Then he could be assured that Tim’s teaching would be perfect.  God could have handed down prepared presentations and lessons for us to use for the generations to come.  But, this is not at all what Paul or God did.   Instead God through Paul trains Timothy to spend his time working hard at teaching his people the Word of God.  He tells him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:15)

 

If you take the picture as a whole the Biblical plan for church leadership is to be men who are walking with the Lord in victory and are growing.  They devote themselves to study and understanding of the Word, they are good examples and are involved in the lives of the people.   Then they talk to the people.  They teach, preach and train all using the Word of God that they themselves have been studying.

 

A pastor should be like a good parent feeding his children.  Presenting fresh cooked food out of fresh ingredients.  They need to know what their children need and desire, and try to serve them the appropriate food.   They should not always serve the same thing either.  There needs to be variety.  It is the parent’s responsibility to serve wholesome food as well.   The parents would zealously defend against dangerous food too, and they would not be tolerant of enemies who tried to poison their children.   

 

It seems to me that the Biblical pattern is for local pastors to be feeding local flocks whom they are getting to know, locally prepared food which they have labored to produce. 

 

I wonder if “a worker” who does not work this way needs to be ashamed?

 

 

Learning From Rahab

Trust in Troubling Times

 

Hebrews 11: 31 “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

 

The story of Rahab is another great reminder that God works his plan in surprising ways.  If you read her story in Joshua two, you discover that she had great faith that God was going to bring victory to Israel.  She says that the people of Jericho had heard all about the crossing of the Red Sea, and the defeat of Sihon and Og, and that because of this they knew that God was going to give his people the Promised Land.  This is so remarkable because Rahab expresses more faith than God’s people have been doing!  The events she refers to occurred more than forty years before!  The generation of God’s people who experienced these miracles firsthand did not trust in their LORD, so he destroyed them in the wilderness.  They did not trust but Rahab believed! 

 

Isn’t it remarkable that the truth of God’s power survived the failure of his people?  God’s people are always imperfect, and sometimes they fail miserably.  We often groan thinking of all the damage done to God’s kingdom.  But, isn’t it wonderful to know that God is still working his plan!  We ought not give up.  We should have faith that he will still keep his promises.  Let us not allow Rahab to have more faith than us!  God is grieved when we are people of little faith. 

 

Listen how Rahab expressed her faith: “…for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”  (Joshua 2:11)  She knew that God could and would accomplish his will.  The mighty walls of Jericho did not deter him.   She said this as she stood in her house in the walls.  She knew that God was bigger than Jericho.  We must learn a lesson from this Canaanite prostitute.   Trust in God no matter what else is going on.  As we go through these troubling times let’s keep our trust in the LORD! 

 

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

 who executes justice for the oppressed,

who gives food to the hungry.

 

Psalm 146:5-7

 

 

 

 

My Friend John 

I attended a memorial for a friend of mine this Saturday.  His name was John.  He was a few months younger than I, but he had many health problems.  I met him in 1985 when I was the chaplain at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose.  A car hit him while he was walking across the street.  The accident was so severe no one really expected him to live.  His head broke the windshield and he was carried along until he flew off the car!  There are so many details about this accident that I cannot possible tell you.  But at the end he was so broken and twisted that his head was literally facing the wrong way.   

This “accident” happened just days after he had truly committed himself to God at a retreat.  

John survived after many specific answers to prayer.  He then faced the long ordeal of rehabilitation.  After something more than a year he kept his commitment to God and WALKED back into the hospital and came my office.  He asked how he might serve as a volunteer with me!   It seems to me that John is a living example of 2 Corinthians 1:4: “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 

He ended up working as a volunteer chaplain for several years, and then as a staff chaplain for about fifteen years!  He went through many struggles, but he would not stop.  The lessons John learned through his painful ordeal he used to comfort hundreds of others.  Many in John’s circumstances just end up living a life of leisure, for lack of a better term.  They watch TV waiting to feel better.   John would not do that.  He got up and got going!  

So many of us with very few difficulties are allowing those we do have to derail us.  This is a shame!  Listen to the words of God to Joshua: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people…”  While it is day let us arise and go!  

Another friend of mine, Sue, spoke a John’s memorial.  She was one of his ICU nurses back in 1985.  She admitted to not expecting him to live.  She was shocked to meet him twenty years later still going and serving other people!  After this meeting they became co-facilitators of a wonderful prayer and support group.  Sue said that sunflowers, which she brought to the memorial, reminded her of John, because they always turn toward the sun.  She said only that in the case of John he turned toward the Son!  

John had a wonderful faith in the Son of God.  It is comforting to know that John has completed his course and is with the Son now!