140629 Choices

2 Peter 1:3-8 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every day we make hundreds of choices. We choose to get up in the morning, or not. We choose to begin our day in a variety of ways. We choose to eat breakfast, or not. We choose to read the Bible and pray, or not. Within each one of these choices there are many other choices we might make. Many of our choices have spiritual consequences for good or for evil. How are you making out with your choices?

Peter tells us that we have a responsibility to make right choices. We are to make every effort to add goodness to our faith. We have the responsibility of adding knowledge to our goodness. And as we grow in knowledge we learn how to practice self-control and stability in our day-to-day life. Stability, or steadfastness, is a choice to be made on a daily basis. As we become more and more stable in our day-to-day life we will grow in godliness. Remember, godliness is “God likeness”. And the more we become like God in our day-to-day living the more we will be able to love one another and accept love from others. As we do these things, making right choices, we will become more and more effective and fruitful in our service to the Lord. We need to remind ourselves that…

Rebellion against God is a choice. Rebellion was a choice made by our first parents, Adam and Eve! The Bible records it in Genesis 3:1-7. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

When Satan comes into our lives to tempt us he doesn’t get directly to the point. He didn’t say to Eve, “I want you to eat the fruit that God told you that you should not eat.” Instead, he asked a question. He then allowed Eve to explain the situation. Then he told the lie he has been repeating ever since. Simply put, he said that God had lied to Adam and Eve. Eve’s first wrong choice was to listen to Satan. Her second wrong choice was to enter into discussion with the devil. Her third wrong choice (there probably were more) was to examine the fruit. Then, her greatest wrong choice was to eat the fruit. Then, the man, Adam, (who had been there all the time) accepted the fruit from her and he ate.

Their choice, made that day in the Garden of Eden, brought sin into the world and consequently death through sin. The result of that choice was that death spread to all men because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

The first immediate consequence of Adam’s and Eve’s rebellion was that they felt shame. They had never felt shame before! And immediately they began to make a covering for their bodies out of fig leaves. Of course, man’s effort to “fix” the sin problem will never work. God demonstrated that fact for them very clearly that day.

Adam and Eve had spent an untold amount of time in fellowship with all the other living creatures on earth. They had no fear of any of the animals in fact they felt respect and perhaps even love for the animals around them. Because of their sin some of those animals had to die. The Bible says that God made garments of skins. Now, God did not cause those skins to appear as if by magic. Instead, he had to take the life of innocent animals. This was a visual demonstration of the cost of sin. From that point forward when a person became aware of their sin they would take an animal lay their hands on his head symbolizing the transfer of their guilt to the animal and then take its life and burn it up on an altar.

That substitutionary sacrifice symbolizes Christ’s death on the cross! He paid a debt he did not owe because mankind owed a debt we could not pay. The debt owed was their life just as it is ours. Because, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death. Praise God he sent his son to bear our guilt on the cross. Just as rebellion is a choice…

Repentance is a choice. Listen while I read Colossians 3:5-10. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Repentance begins with a confession of our great need and a commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The Bible also says that if we will confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead we will be saved. Our need for repentance doesn’t end with salvation. As much as some people would like it to be true, we do not stop sinning when we are saved. I suppose it is possible to go for a period of time without committing a known sin but it is not likely that it will be very long before we do, say, or think something that is wrong. Jesus was very clear on that subject. He said that to be angry with someone is to be subject to judgment. Within the context that Jesus said this anger equals murder. In the same manner, lust equals adultery.

James warns us that a person who doesn’t control their tongue deceives themselves and their religion is worthless.

One of the temptations we face is to believe that since we have thought something that is wrong we may as well ahead and do it. Nothing could be further from the truth! To have an evil thought against another, or to imagine sexual sin involves our relationship with God. To actually commit the wrongdoing involves other people and adds to our guilt. Please, stop the wrongdoing while it is still in your mind and your life will be easier.

These examples show us that after salvation we often have to repent. I remember a pastor who told about his four-year-old son and his “blankey”. They had tried every way they could imagine to get him to give up his blanket. They had even made it smaller and smaller but he hung on to it. Finally the pastor’s wife said to her husband, “I want you to take care of it.” So, he took his son aside and decided to reason with him. Well, you know that didn’t work! Finally he said, “When will you give up this blanket?” It was a short time before the boy’s birthday and he replied to his father, “I think I will when I’m five.” The pastor said he thought nothing else about it until the morning of his son’s fifth birthday. He said that while he and his wife were still in bed they heard the door to his son’s bedroom open and the pitter patter of tiny feet going down the hall. They heard the back door open and the clatter of the garbage can lid. His son had “repented” of his “blankey”.

On a day-to-day basis, we need to take the same attitude about the things in our lives that we need to repent of.

Rebellion is a choice and repentance is a choice leading to…

Spiritual growth as a choice. Let’s listen to what Peter wrote for us in 2 Peter 3:18a.  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in 1 Peter 2:1-3. So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Anytime the Bible instructs us to do something or think something we can be confident that God will enable us to do it. There has never been a choice that a Christian needs to make that God doesn’t enable that choice! Not only are we to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we also are able to put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

We are required by God to grow up into salvation. That doesn’t mean that we can be gradually saved it means that having been saved we are born anew. And since we are born spiritual infants we need to mature. Having been born of the flesh we begin the process of “growing up” physically. In the same manner having been born spiritually we are to “grow up” spiritually.

Rebellion is a choice; repentance is a choice; spiritual growth is a choice and…

Obeying God in difficult circumstances is a choice. I have often heard people talk about salvation as being “easy”. And also the same people might talk about living the Christian life as being “easy” because we are enabled by God to do anything he calls us to do. Let me read an example from Daniel 3:16-18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

The King had been tricked into creating an idol that he required everyone to worship. The penalty for not worshiping his idol was not just death but included being thrown into a burning furnace. This was done because his advisers hated the Jews who were in his service and knew that they would not worship his gods. By challenging their faith the enemies of the Jews would either cause them to lose their life or their faith. Well, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, could not have been clearer in their choice! They knew that God was able to deliver them, if he so chose. If God did not choose to deliver them they wanted it to be very clear that they would not bow down to the golden image! You probably already know the story. These three men were thrown into the furnace that was so hot that it killed the men who threw them in. Afterward, the King came to the opening of the furnace and saw inside it four men — not three and, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire without even the smell of smoke on them.

Today, all across the world Christians are finding that it is hard to live the Christian life. Particularly in the Muslim countries a conversion to Christianity is usually a death sentence. It was said during the first centuries of the church that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. That being true, we should expect there to be real spiritual growth in the countries where there is oppression.

The church in China is a good example of what might happen in the next generation. After the Communists took over the country the pressure on the Christian church increased from the 1940s into the 1960s. Then the Cultural Revolution came and Christians were killed all across the country. It is reported that there were about 5 million Christians when the Communists took over. It is also reported that when the bamboo curtain came down and we could see what Chinese society was like there were at least 50 million Christians! One of the greatest concerns today is for leadership in the hundreds of thousands of churches that are springing up across China. Pray for them please!

Rebellion is a choice; repentance is a choice; spiritual growth is a choice and obeying God in difficult circumstances is a choice. Having obeyed God we discover that…

Godly living is a choice. Everything God calls on us to do God enables us to do. Listen while read Romans 6:1-4. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

It seems that a lot of Christians think that since they have security in Christ Jesus they can live any way they want to. There is no doubt that we are saved by grace through faith. There is no doubt that our salvation is not dependent on our works. We are not saved by doing good and we’re not saved by being good. We are saved by God’s choice of grace. In writing this letter to the Romans Paul rejected an idea that seemed to be becoming popular in the Christian church at that time. Since grace is granted by God for salvation and that it covers all our sin then we might increase grace by increasing sin! Paul was amazed by this idea. There appears to have been people who were teaching that grace would increase as sin increased. Paul wanted them to understand that since we had become Christians we had died to sin and sin had died to us. It is very foolish to continue in sin in the hopes that grace might increase. Baptism itself is the picture of our death to the old way of living, being buried with Christ and rising up to walk a new kind of life.

If anyone is in Christ Jesus they have become a new creature. The old has passed away the new has come! We have an obligation to live with a new attitude and outlook on life. We are no longer to be conformed to this world instead we are to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. It is sad to see today how the church is conformed to the world rather than transformed. What the world needs now is a clear picture of what a Christian is like. The song says, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” I would agree with that if it means God’s kind of love. And that is “tough love”. Indeed, the love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. We need to communicate God’s love to everyone in our world by godly living.

Rebellion is a choice; repentance is a choice; spiritual growth is a choice and obeying God in difficult circumstances is a choice; godly living is a choice and…

Loving others is a choice. Remember, if God calls on us to do something he always enables us to do it. Let’s look at John 13:34-35. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

­ We tend to think that love is just a feeling that comes upon us without any control on our part. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, love is not a feeling it is a willful act. Jesus has gathered his disciples for a long teaching session. John records this more completely than the other Gospels. Here, he tells his disciples, and us, that Christian believers are to love one another. That certainly does not begin as a feeling. It is something that must be lived out in our day-to-day experience.

It would seem to be pretty easy to love all the good people in the church. The truth is not all of us are always “good”! Christians make mistakes, say things without thought and otherwise are not always good citizens. Throughout Paul’s letters especially we see examples of his instructing the people to love each other by the way they act.

Christian love is more than being nice. Jesus says that we are to love one another in the same way that he loved us. He loved us by coming to earth, living among us, taking our sins into his own body, then dying on the cross. Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for another. That is the kind of love we are called upon to life out!

Then Jesus said that all men would know that we are his disciples because we have that kind of love for each other. There is little wonder that the world increasingly doubts the sincerity of Christianity. If the only evidence that they have is that we love each other is not very convincing. We may not agree with each other on things like baptism and the translation of the Bible we use but we can treat each other with respect. We can do things that show the world that we are not in competition with each other. Please remember, when God commands us to do something he always enables us to do it. The choices we make every day clearly show others what’s important in our lives. It’s nice when we get recognition from others but the person we most want to see our love is God himself! Don’t let other people determine how you will live your life or, how you will feel.

I hope that in the past you have recognized the need to surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is the most important choice you will ever make! The fact that God knows what choice we will make does not take away from us the responsibility to make a choice. In fact, not making a choice is a choice and one we are personally responsible for. To not choose Christ, to not repent, to not grow spiritually, to not obey God, to not live in a godly manner, to not deal with our anger issues or to not love others all are choices that are made every day to our harm. My prayer for you is that you will make good choices and grow up in the Lord. Do you need to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you need to obey him in baptism? Do you need to share a testimony of God’s goodness in your life? Now is the time. Today is the day. Do it!

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Hope of the Nations 130317

Romans 15:8-13, For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

In the passage just before this Paul says, "Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." "One another" represents the entire church of God, Jews and Gentiles altogether. We are able to do so because of the sacrifice of Christ. It is hard for us to recognize the suffering that Jesus went through on the cross. His sacrifice started long before that! Jesus, as part of the Godhead, existed eternally with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Then, in the fullness of time, he came into the world as a human being. He left the glory of heaven for the gloom of earth. He left unlimited Godhood to become human and exist forever after as the MAN, Christ Jesus. He did this with a particular purpose in mind: to bring salvation to all those who would respond in faith among the Jews as well as the nations of the world.

In order to do this…

He became a servant of the Jews!

He came to his own people. Listen while I read, John 1:11, He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

The first "his own"refers to property ownership. Jesus, as creator of the universe, came to his own possessions. Not just the land of Israel but the entire world belonged to him. He had the right to claim his property and expel the human race from it! However, that wasn't the plan.

The second "his own" refers to people, not property. So it is correctly translated in the ESV. His own people, descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were not ready to receive him. In fact, they were looking for a Messiah but not one who came to serve and to save. They expected a Messiah who would lead them in victory over the Romans reestablishing David's earthly kingdom. However, that wasn't the plan!

From before the beginning of time God had a plan that involved all of the human race. God had the right, in the garden of Eden, to wipe out the human race before it began. As soon as Adam rebelled God had the right to end Adam's life, physical as well as spiritual. But he did not do that! Instead, in the fullness of time, he came to his own property knowing that his own people would reject him.

In line with that…

He limited his ministry. Listen to this story from Matthew 15:21-28, And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

This is a remarkable story! Picture the scene with me. Jesus and his disciples were walking along a road in the region of Tyre and Sidon. There obviously are many Jews there but the population must of been primarily Gentile, or Canaanite! As they were walking along a Canaanite woman came up to him, begging him to have mercy on her. Her daughter was oppressed by a demon. We're not told how this oppression was manifested in the daughter only that the woman described it as severe.

Jesus' answer seems rude in our culture. Instead of giving her help immediately he told her that he was only sent to the house of Israel and it would not be right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs! She was too concerned about her daughter to be offended. She immediately answered, in agreement with him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

Jesus was so impressed with her great faith that he healed her daughter immediately. It was not her right to receive healing but it was a gift of grace based on her great faith.

He came to his own people…

In order to confirm the promises. Listen to what Paul wrote to the, Galatians 3:16, Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

The promises were made to Abraham and his offspring. Offspring is singular and was not referring to many people, as in the Jewish nation. God's plan from the beginning was to bless those who trusted in Christ. God never intended that salvation be limited to one race of people or to one tribe on earth. Hebrews, Chapter 11, makes it very clear that faith is the basis of human relationship to God and always has been. This was a mystery that was not always understood until Jesus came into the world as the Messiah of the Jews and the Savior of the world. Paul was given insight into the mystery and spoke of it in his writings about 20 times. One of those references is…

Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

The mystery gives hope to the nations. It was not just that the Gentiles might be saved but also that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the same promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of Paul's greatest battles was to convince the church that the Gentiles were equal to the Jews. As we have seen, earlier in Romans, the descendents of Abraham are not recognized in flesh but in faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. This belief occurred long before there was a Jewish nation and before Abraham did anything that can be considered a rule or a law to follow.

Over the centuries the concept of God having a relationship with anyone outside the Jewish nation was lost. By the time Jesus was born man had limited (or tried to limit) relationship with God to those who followed the law of Moses. In other words in order to know God one had to be, or become, a Jew. So Jesus limited himself, by and large, to a ministry to the Jews so that God's faithfulness could be understood. If God kept his promises to the descendents of Abraham he would keep his promises also to those who come to him by faith.

He did that in order…

That the Gentiles (Nations) might glorify God! He was to be…

A light for the nations. Listen to the prophecy of Isaiah, found in, Isaiah 60:1-3, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah, the Prince of Prophets, heard the word of the Lord concerning the thick darkness that would cover the earth blinding the eyes of people to the truth of the good news of God's love. Isaiah heard God speak and preserved his words for us. More completely than any other prophet Isaiah understood that God would send salvation in the form of a man who would be the light of the world. He could see that that light would shine drawing people from all nations. John's gospel tells us that Jesus came into the world as the Word, and as Life. Then he said that The Life was the light of men. The light will shine in the darkness repeating the imagery of Isaiah.

This was done…

In order for salvation to reach the nations. Again we turn to Isaiah 49:6, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

We can see clearly in this passage that God always intended his salvation to reach out to all people. To Israel he says that it is "too light a thing" to bring back the preserved of Israel. Instead, Israel is to be a light for the nations. Remember this is about 700 years before Christ's birth. God's intention is not just to save a people but to make salvation available to the ends of the earth.

When Jesus was about to leave his disciples for the last time physically he told them that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth. God's plan is always been that the gospel go out to all nations.

This was the same message…

Preached by John the baptizer. Listen while I read, Luke 3:2-6, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

When John was questioned about his role in God's plan he stated that he was not the Messiah he was simply the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. You may remember that after John was arrested he called his disciples to him and asked them to go to Jesus to ask if he was really the one they were waiting for. Jesus responded with, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them." Jesus came into the world to seek and to save that which is lost. Paul tells us that Christ became a servant to the Jews to prove God's truthfulness and faithfulness showing that the promises given to the fathers serve the purpose of bringing the Gentiles (Nations) to a place where they may glorify God and…

That we may be filled with joy and peace!

We have peace with rejoicing. Listen while I read from, Romans 5:1-2, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Paul does not say we should have peace with God he says that, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have obtained access by faith in this grace in which we stand. The God of all hope fills us with joy and peace. Since we have such a relationship with the God of all hope we are able to abound in hope…

By the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen to the next three verses Romans 5:3-5, More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us! As a result we are able to rejoice in our sufferings not just the good things in life. Along the way to a realized hope — suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character. And the hope that we realize from that process does not disappoint us instead it puts us in a position to choose cooperation with the spirit of God in our life. Once the Spirit moves in our hearts and lives we are brought to a place where we can respond to God…

By our choice. I want you to look at three passages of Scripture first: Galatians 5:22-24; But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

When a person is saved the Holy Spirit comes to live in them. The Holy Spirit produces his fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. For many of us it is a real struggle to get out of the Spirit's way and allow him to produce his strength in our lives. We need to choose to be filled with rejoicing and peace. The next best of Scripture is…

Colossians 3:14-15, And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Paul has just listed several qualities that we need to choose to have in our lives. But above all these are to put on love. Remember, faith, hope and love remain but the greatest of these is love. Love doesn't just happen we need to apply ourselves to "put love on". And then we must LET the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. Do you see, the Holy Spirit bearing his fruit of love in our life, with our cooperation, brings the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts. We must choose to cooperate if we're going to enjoy the work of the Spirit in our life.

The third passage of Scripture is, Philippians 4:4-7, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we will but choose to cooperate with God awesome changes will come into our lives. Rejoice always! The Lord is at hand! We have nothing to fear or be anxious about. We simply need to bring our needs before God in prayer and trust him to do what really needs to be done. Then, and only then, will the peace of God that is beyond human understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The Lord Jesus came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. In order to do this, he became a servant to his own people — the Jewish nation. He knew when he came that his own people would reject him. But he came anyway because he had a greater purpose in mind. That great purpose was salvation for all those who would believe. While on earth, Jesus limited his ministry, with few notable exceptions, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He did that to prove that God is faithful to his promises. But his greater promise was that all people who would believe might be saved. Have you accepted him as Lord and Savior? Will you turn to him now?

All scripture quotes from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

God's Gifts to His Church 121118

Romans 12:3-8, For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Some people seem to think they are God's gift to the world. That's one side of the coin. The other side is that some people, perhaps we could say many people, think that somehow they are God's curse on the world. In other words they think of themselves as being without worth. As we've studied Romans we've seen that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Further, we've seen that the wages of sin is death. Too often we stop short at this point and fail to recognize that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In today's passage Paul calls on the believer to think with sound judgment. We who are Christians need to confess, about ourselves, that we are children of God and are equally worthy in Christ Jesus. We're not to put ourselves above others instead we are to act as our Savior did. Jesus said that anyone who would be first among us must be the servant of all. He himself washed the feet of the disciples and said we are also to serve in that way.

I don't intend, today, to talk about the individual spiritual gifts given to believers. Instead, I want to talk about the grace behind the gift as it is given to the Apostle Paul, and to us, and then the gifts themselves. Perhaps at a later date I might take each gift and talk about how it applies to the church, but not today.

So let's begin with…

The grace given to Paul. Paul began this letter with a statement about himself found in… Romans 1:1, listen while I read, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,...

For a part of Paul's life he was known as a persecutor of the church. He arrested men and women and caused the death of some of them. He called himself a blasphemer and an insolent opponent of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, because of the mercy of God, and the grace that God poured out upon Paul, he became instead…

A servant of Jesus Christ. During the last recorded trial of Paul in the Book of Acts he told his own story. He said that he had left Jerusalem with arrest warrants to go to the city of Damascus. He planned to find the believers in this new faith in Jesus Christ and drag them back to Jerusalem for trial. On his way, he was struck down by light from heaven and heard a voice speak from that light. The voice asked, "Why are you persecuting me?" We find Paul's dialogue with this voice in, Acts 26:15-18, And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul could never say that he was not warned by God! From the very beginning he was told that he was appointed as a servant and a witness. He could understand from the statement, "delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles" that he would be in need of deliverance. He was blinded as a result of the brightness of the light. He spent three days in total darkness to help him understand that he had been in spiritual darkness. Part of what he was told was that he was being sent to open the eyes of his own people as well is those of the Gentiles. Not, of course, the physical eyes but instead he would open spiritual eyes. He would bring people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. He would do this as a servant of Jesus Christ. A servant who is…

Called to be an apostle. Listen while I read Paul's letter to the Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,…

Notice that in this list apostles are first followed by prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers. We can understand that the apostles were first in point of time because they were the ones who followed Jesus. Twelve apostles were chosen by Jesus to be with him and learn from him. Paul wasn't one of those twelve but Judas was! The eleven who remained immediately chose a successor, Matthias, and he was numbered among the twelve. From then on, in the Book of Acts, he is recognized as one of the apostles. Since Acts is inspired by the Holy Spirit, as is the rest of Scripture, his selection was okay with God. But God still had one more man to add to the group. That man was, by his own testimony, a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent opponent of the church. Later, Paul would say that he was not worthy to be named as an apostle because he was a persecutor of the church! But when he found others boasting of their "apostleship" Paul asserted that he was not inferior to the "super-apostles"! He humbled himself, supported himself, and preached the gospel without charge. Yet he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the apostle to the Gentiles and he was…

Set apart for the gospel. When Paul was struck down on the Damascus Road he was brought into the city of Damascus totally blind. God showed him in a vision that a man named Ananias would come to him. Then God told the man, Ananias, that he was to go to the street called "Straight" and seek out a man named Saul from Tarsus. God assured Ananias the Saul was praying. But Ananias knew that Saul had come there to arrest the believers and he protested in fear. Let's pick up the story in, Acts 9:15, But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.…"

Yes, Paul was set apart to the gospel! But it didn't happen on the Damascus Road, and didn't happen later in Damascus, it happened a good while before. Paul later came to understand, and stated to the Galatians, that God had set him apart before he was born.

God revealed his grace to Saul of Tarsus and changed him into Paul the Apostle who traveled across the Roman world planting churches and winning people to faith in Jesus Christ. He was God's chosen instrument! He was appointed to carry the name of Jesus to the Gentiles, people he had been taught all his life to hate! He would stand before kings and proclaim the gospel and he would stand before crowds of Israelites and do the same thing. Saul, the Pharisee, had persecuted the church. He found himself later being persecuted by the Pharisees. But that only happened when God allowed it as part of his greater plan to bring the gospel to Rome. So that Paul could later write to the Philippians sending greetings from all the saints and especially those of Caesar's household! You see, as a prisoner of the Emperor he would be guarded by the Praetorian Guard. In his years in chains in Rome he met many at the highest levels of the Roman government and some of them became Christians because of that contact. God ordained Paul's imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. God often ordains circumstances in our lives that seem at the time to be painful and frustrating but they result in God's best. Remember, we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Don't let difficult circumstances draw you away from our Lord and Savior. He has a purpose and a plan for everything that comes into our life! So let's look at…

The grace given to us. There are two kinds of grace, common grace that affects all people and special grace, or saving grace, that affects those who place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! First we will look at…

Common grace. Let's look at the words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:44-45, But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The goodness of God brings people to repentance. His common grace lets the sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

I am reminded of a story of two farmers whose farms lay side-by-side. The soil was pretty much the same and of course the weather would be the same. One farmer was an atheist who believed that he got everything by his hard work. The other farmer was a devout Christian who believed that he got everything by God's grace and goodness. Being as self-centered as we are we would usually think that, of course, the Christian farmer's crop would always equal or exceed that of the atheist. One year, when they brought their produce to market the unbeliever had a much larger crop than the Christian. Boastfully he said, "I suppose you know what this means don't you?" The Christian brother replied, "Yes, I do, this means that God doesn't settle his accounts in September!" God's common grace comes to all people, in all places, all the time.

Common grace influences saving grace in a number of ways. If it were not for the grace given to carpenters and other builders there would be no church buildings. If it were not for the grace given to farmers, fishermen and ranchers there would be no food on our table. Apart from common grace given to bookbinders and printers there would be no Bibles.

On the other hand, saving grace has brought people to the place where they can bring positive influence on society. In other words, people who have been influenced by special grace make a very positive change in the world they live in and affect the common grace of all those in society influenced by the church. The rewriters of history would write out of all the textbooks the tremendous influence Christians have had throughout history. Establishing democratic government, ending the slave trade, providing medical care for the poor, etc. etc. would not have happened without the Christian church. There is common grace for all. For the believer God has special grace or…

Saving grace. Listen while I read, 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,...

A lady by the name of Julia Johnson wrote a hymn that teaches us to be grateful for grace. It goes like this…

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, yonder on Calvary's mount out poured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.

The second verse goes like this:

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, what can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide; whiter than snow you may be today.

The third verse leads us to worship the marvelous grace of God!

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe; all who are longing to see his face. Will you this moment his grace receive?

We were not saved and called because of our good works! We were saved and called because of God's own purpose and grace! Look back at 2nd Timothy and see the remarkable statement. Grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began! The grace of God abolishes death and brings immortal life to light through the gospel! We should never cease to praise the God of heaven who wrote our names in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world! And when he bestowed that grace upon us he also bestowed…

Grace gifts. Paul gives a list of gifts in Romans 12 verses 6-8; but Peter cuts to the chase. Listen while I read 1 Peter 4:10-11, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Remember, "each" has received a gift. And I venture to think that each one has received more than one gift. Spiritual gifts are given, not for the thrill of the fill, or to benefit the recipient of the gift. Spiritual gifts are given to serve one another! Speaking and serving is the way Peter saw the gifts. When you speak, remember that the Spirit of God dwells in every believer and whatever we say or do is to be for the glory of God. And when we serve others remember, we do not have to serve in our own strength we serve by the strength that God supplies. In everything God should be glorified through Jesus Christ! Gifts are not given to individuals for the individual's use instead God gives…

Grace gifts to the church.

Gifts that are Powered by one Spirit. Turn to first Corinthians chapter 12 and listen while I read 1 Corinthians 12:11, All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

There is only one godly spirit. But there are many spirits. The spirit world is either of God or of Satan. We are to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. And then glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in the use of the spiritual gifts he gives to us. It doesn't matter what gift we have. It only matters that we have the giver of the gifts. And He gives the gifts…

For the common good. Look back at verse seven 1 Corinthians 12:7, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

The same message that Peter gave — gifts are to be used to serve one another. We are to be good stewards of the gifts that God gave us using them always for the common good!

There seems, to often, to be an emphasis on the gifted person. It would appear sometimes, in some circles, that spiritual gifts are given to enhance the popularity of a person and to increase their importance in the church. Nothing could be further from the truth! Again I say, gifts are not given for the person, gifts are given…

To build up the church. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 14:26, and listen while I read, What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

This follows a lengthy presentation about spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 13. Some have taken the idea that Paul is criticizing the church here. I don't take it that way at all. He is simply making a statement, when they come together one has a hymn, another has a lesson for teaching, one has a revelation, another a tongue or an interpretation. He's not saying this is good or bad he's just saying, "it is what it is". In 1st Corinthians 12, Paul goes to great lengths to show how important it is for us to remember that we are part of the body. We are each individually members of the body and as such must do what is good for the body. In chapter 13 he goes beyond all the self-centeredness of spiritual excess and comes to the heart of the matter. There he tells us that if he, himself, had all the gifts and excelled in them all and had no love he would be an empty shell of no value to himself or anyone else.

There are many gifts of grace given to the church. Eight gifts are listed here in Romans chapter 12. In first Corinthians chapter 12, nine gifts are listed. Peter, on the other hand, refers to speaking and serving as gifts of the spirit. There are many different opinions about spiritual gifts. I don't enter into controversy about this because it is just foolish to waste our time arguing with each other about things that only God understands.

The most important gift of grace is salvation. We are saved by grace through faith and it is a gift of God. We are not saved by our works of righteousness. Instead, works follow after salvation — at least the works that count follow after salvation. Have you put your faith in him? Have you felt God's Spirit tug at your heart? If you have, you need to step out, come up front, and make a public confession of your faith. Jesus said that if we confess him before men on earth he would confess us before the Father in heaven. This could be your time of salvation.

All Scripture quotes are from The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.