After the Election: A Christian’s Duty toward the Governement

Preached at Longview Missionary Baptist Church on November 5, 2008

Romans 13:1-10

An Historic Election

Yesterday’s election is historic.  Setting aside politics and policy for just a moment, consider the incredible nature of the election.

•    In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, legally freeing millions of slaved.

•    In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, Constitutionally outlawing slavery in the United States.

•    Rosa Parks did not give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955

•    In 1954, the “Separate but Equal” policies that built walls of segregation began to crumble.  My mother-in-law was a student at Central High in Little Rock in 1957 when the so called “Little Rock Nine”– the first black students at Central High– entered the building with the protection of Federal Troops after Arkansas National Guard under orders from the Arkansas governor prevented them from entering.

•    In 1962, James Meredith was the first black student at the University of Mississippi.  Riots and violence broke out in protest.

•    In 1963, four young black girls were killed when a bomb exploded during Sunday School at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

•    In 1964, the Civil Rights Acts was passed, which prevented discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin.

•    In 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

These events are not ancient history.  Many of you were alive during those times.  The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of slaves voted yesterday.  Men and women who were not allowed to shop in certain stores, eat in certain restaurants, and were forced to drink from separate water fountains, simply because of the color of their skin.

So, it is truly historic and monumental that an African-American has been elected as president of the United States.

Think of it like this.  Your children (assuming they were born in the mid- to late 60s) never knew a time when whites and blacks did not play ball together.  Most of your grandchildren are in fully integrated classrooms today.  It is nothing for whites and blacks to sit on the bus, play on the basketball team, and eat in the same cafeteria, at the same table together.

My children will never know a time when African-Americans do not hold the highest office in our land.  That is amazing.

There is still racism– both from blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians, and others– in our land because all people are still sinners.  But as a nation, we have made significant progress when it comes to the issue of skin color.

As Christians, we ought to be glad for that.  The Bible and our Christian faith removes ethnic boundaries.

Galatians 3:28 (NKJV)  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Col. 3:11 (NKJV) There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Luke 24:46-48 (NKJV)  Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, [47] and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. [48] And you are witnesses of these things.

So, on one hand, the election was very historic.

A Cause for Concern

But as a Christian, I have some concerns with the results of yesterday’s election.  I am concerned not over the issue of taxes or government regulation.  My concern lies in the areas of Life and Marriage.  I worry that laws that have made it more difficult to get an abortion will be swept away.  Too many innocent babies die in our nation each year.  One baby dying is one too many.  Any act by any government that promotes and sanctions the death of innocent children is a wicked and godless act.

I also have godly worry over the issue of marriage.  God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman for one lifetime.  The advancement of the homosexual agenda has done and will continue to do nothing but ultimately destroy lives, families, and our culture.

That is where my greatest concern lies with the outcome of this election.

What Do We Do Now?

For many, last night was a moment of excitement and happiness.  For many, last night was a moment of disappointment and frustration.

But what about us Christians?  I am sure many of you voted.  Perhaps the election went as you voted and you are pleased with the results.  Or perhaps it did not go the way you wanted it to go.

The question that ought to be on our minds as Christians today is, “What should we do and how should we respond to this election?”

The City of God and The City of Man

Augustine, a fourth century pastor-theologian wrote an important book called “The City of God.”  In it, he articulated the Biblical concept that we as Christians live in two cities, or two realities.  The first is the City of God, where Christ is King and is Sovereign and Supreme.  Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven.

But we are also residents in the City of Man, or citizens of this world.  The City of Man has it’s own government and systems.  The City of Man is often in competition with the City of God, but will ultimately turn to dust and be swept away when Christ comes and permanently establishes his glorious kingdom.  Until that time, we have dual citizenship.  We are “in the world, but not of the world.”

As citizens of Heaven, citizens of the City of God, our greatest loyalty is to be to Jesus Christ.  His Word is to guide us.  And His Word does provide instruction for us as we live in the City of Man– as we live in this world.

Romans 13:1-10

1.    As Christians, we are to submit to the governing authorities. (Verses 1-5)

a.    Command in verse 1– be subject to the governing authorities.  That means, we obey the laws governing our land.  We do not rise up in rebellion, or seek ways to undermine or destroy our government.

i.    1 Peter 2:13-16 (NKJV)  Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, [14] or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. [15] For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men– [16] as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

ii.    Generally, we are to obey the laws of our nation and live as good citizens for the good of our society.  Obeying the traffic laws, environmental laws, zoning codes, fire codes, insurance laws, and countless other regulations are meant to be good for us and our society.  As Christians, we ought to follow the law.

b.    We need to remember that God establishes the governing authorities.

i.    God was not surprised by the results of the election yesterday.  He is still on the throne.

ii.    No leader, elected or otherwise, can rise to power unless the Lord providentially allows it and causes it to happen.

iii.    Daniel 2:21 (NKJV)  And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.

iv.    In the Mystery of Providence, we may not understand why God allows any leader to hold office.  But we must trust in Him.

c.    Verse 4 teaches us that God intends good for his people through the exercise of power by national leaders.

i.    Sometimes our good is prosperity and blessing under godly leaders like a King David, or King Hezekiah, or King Josiah.

ii.    Other times, the good God intends is our chastisement and correction.  Sometimes God allows us to have bad leaders so that we learn to depend on the Lord more and seek Him.

d.    Even when God raises us godless, wicked leaders, He is still in control and is still working his providential plan to be glorified in the world and in his people.

i.    Isaiah 44:28-45:1 (NKJV) Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ‘ [45:1] “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held– To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:

ii.    Jeremiah 25:8-9 (NKJV)  “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, [9] behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

e.    Is there a limit to our submission to governing authorities?  Yes.

i.    Acts 5:29 (NKJV)  But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

ii.    We are blessed to live in a free nation that allows dissent and free speech.  We should exercise our freedoms to vigorously oppose policies and actions by our government that are contrary to Biblical truths.

iii.    But, we are to do it in a respectful, humble, peaceful, submissive way.

iv.    ILL– Opposition to Abortion

(1)    Some blew up abortion clinics.  That is WRONG.

(2)    Others will protest and block sidewalks in a non-violent way.  They are arrested and jailed.  They do not resist arrest or fight the police.  This is GOOD.

v.    There may well come a day when the preaching of the Gospel is banned in our nation.  We may be so far gone that we will be tested, just like the Russian Christians were in the early 20th century and the Chinese Christians are today.  The public worship of God may be outlawed.  Bibles may be burned.  It may be illegal to be a Christian.  If that day ever comes, dear friends, we ought to obey God rather than men.

vi.    Any time there is a conflict between the City of God and the City of Man, the City of God must and will win.

2.    As Christians, we are to give what is due to governing authorities. (Verses 6-10) – Specifically, the Bible says we are to give three things:

a.    We are to pay our taxes and customs.

i.    This is a pretty straight forward command, that is unambiguous.  I would rather pay less taxes than more taxes.  But, if the congress and president raise my taxes, I am to pay them.

ii.    It is a disgrace and reproach that more than one Christian minister has gone to jail for not paying taxes.

iii.    Find all the exemptions, loop holes, tax credits, and every other legal technique to reduce your taxes.  But when the bill comes due, pay up.

iv.    We are blessed to share a common defense, infrastructure, and other elements that make our society a better place.

b.    We are to give respect and honor to our elected officials.

i.    I hope President Obama is successful in making our nation a better nation.  I hope he moves to the right, or at the very least center right.  I hope his liberal record prior to this election is not an indication of what is to come.  But essentially, I hope that he is successful in making our a better nation.  Why won’t anyone?

ii.    I want to respect and honor the office of the president and our other national leaders.  Quite honestly, some of the people occupying office, both Democrats and Republicans, are not very honorable people.  But the office is honorable.  And as such, I will respect them.  I may oppose them when it comes time for election.  I may voice strong opposition to their policies and stances on the issues.  But as Christians, we are to respect and honor those who govern us.

iii.    As much as conservatives wanted President Bush respected, conservatives should show the same respect to President Obama.  Christians ought to take the lead in showing respect.

c.    Third, Christians are to love our neighbors, including the governing officials.  While there are many things that can be said about loving our neighbors, I will say two things as it relates to our elected officials.

i.    We should love our elected officials by praying for them.

(1)    1 Tim. 2:1-3 (NKJV)  Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, [2] for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. [3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

(2)    Pray for their wisdom.  Pray that God will guide their hearts and decision.  Pray that God will protect them and their families.  Pray that God will help them govern with humility and righteousness.

(3)    ILL– Presidential Prayer Team for President Bush– all those should pray for President Obama.  In fact, we should pray more.

(4)    Proverbs 21:1 (NKJV)  The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

ii.    We should love our elected officials by speaking prophetically to them.

(1)    We need to continually remind them of the Word of God and the Truth of Scripture.

(2)    Kind David had Nathan to rebuke him when he sinned.  It is interesting to note that King Solomon does not seem to have had any prophetic voice in his court.  When he sinned, no one rebuked him.  It led to the ruin of the nation.

(3)    We should be like Elijah who stood up to the wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel.  We need Apostolic like courage to preach the Gospel in the face of persecution and be like Paul who called on Kings and governors to repent and trust in Jesus.

Conclusion

The election may not have turned out the way you voted, hoped and prayed for.  Or it may have been exactly what you wanted.  But as Christians, regardless of who is in office, our duty is clear.  Submit to the governing authorities, and give them their due taxes, honor, and prayers.  Let us stand for the causes of truth and justice.  Let us oppose ungodliness.  And let us live out our Christian faith.

Wyman Richardson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dawson, Georgia, wrote the following.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, Jesus will still be King.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our responsibilities as Christians will not have changed one iota.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the greatest agent for social change in America will still be winning the hearts and minds of men and women through the gospel, not legislation.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my primary citizenship will still be in this order – (1) the Kingdom of God, (2) America, not vice-versa.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the tomb will still be empty.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the cross, not the government, will still be our salvation.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, our children will still be more concerned with whether or not we spend time with them than with who is President.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my neighbor will still be my neighbor, and loving him/her will still be the second greatest commandment.  (Do you know the first?)

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the only way to see abortion ultimately overturned will still be winning men and women to a high view of life through the gospel of Christ.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, the only way to see gay marriage ultimately defeated will still be winning men and women to a biblical view of marriage through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, my retirement will still not match my treasure in Heaven.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, “Jesus Is Lord” will still be the greatest truth in the Universe.

The day after the election, regardless of who wins, we will still know that God is in control.

Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, Sovereign King and Ruler of all that exists,
We come to you grateful and thankful that we live in a free nation that allows us the opportunity to vote for our leaders.  We know that your perfect plan is even now being fulfilled and we trust in your goodness.
We pray for president-elect Obama and the Senators and Representatives who will govern our nation.  Give them humility and wisdom.  May they be guided by Godly principles.
Bring about revival to our nation. May we as Christians never grow tired or weary of living faithfully.  Let us proclaim boldly the Gospel.  May our hope be in you and you alone.  May people be won to Christ and may our city, state, and nation be changed as people submit to King Jesus.
We pray especially that our leaders would pass laws that would protect the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage.
Please protect our nation from harm.  Guard our service men and women from danger.  Thank you for those who serve as first responders– police, fire fighters, and EMTs.  Keep them safe this evening.
Gather us, your people, together again on Sunday that we may be encouraged by fellowship, exhorted through your word, and equipped for the work of ministry.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.
This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Elijah: No More Compromise

Preached February 20, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

1 Kings 18:17-22  

I am a both/and kind of guy.  Do you want cookies or pie?  That is an either/or question.  My preference is both cookies and pie.  That’s part of my problem.

America is both/and when it comes to spirituality.  There is a blending and melting pot effect among religious world views.  For example, there are Christian Yoga groups.  Nothing wrong with having a group formed around some affinity like biking or hiking.  But Yoga is an eastern religious practice.  It has been brought into our culture through New Ageism neo-paganism.  Yet some Christians want to blend the two.  They argue they are only embracing the stretching exercises and not the mysticism associated with it.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.  It is kind of like going through Muslim purification rituals, wearing robes and turbans, assuming the posture of Muslim prayer including bowing toward Mecca, and then saying “Oh, well I’m really praying to Jesus.”

In America, one of the celebrated values is relativism– the idea that we can all just get along and we can swirl beliefs and practices together, just so long as no one gets too serious about their faith publically.

We hear this all the time in the media.  New Age, Paganism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are all viable options set next to Christianity.  Then of course there are the purely secular religions of humanism and materialism.  Humanism and materialism have done more to infiltrate and corrupt Christianity than anything else.

Religious pluralism and religious relativism are great temptations we face.  The pressure to compromise is enormous.

Elijah is confronting Israelites who had compromised.  They had not totally abandoned Yahweh (at least in their minds).  But at the same time they had at least tolerated and at worst embraced Baal worship.

Dale Ralph Davis explains why the Israelites had fallen into spiritual compromise:

1.    It carried the appeal of royal sanction.  Jezebel was a devout Baal and Asherah worshiper.  She hosted 850 heathen priests in the palace.  It was en vogue and stylish.

2.    There was an appeal to tradition and history.  It was culturally relevant.  They moved into Canaan, where Baal was worshiped before they arrived.

3.    Baal worship offered an appeal of relevance, an ability to touch felt needs.  Baal was believed to send forth lightning, fire, and rain.  He gave grain, oil, and wine.  He could revive the dead, heal the sick, and give you a child.

Note how similar 9th century Israel and 21st century America are.

1.    Religious pluralism is the rage.  Alternate religious philosophies are celebrated and embraced.  The religions of humanism and materialism are the chief means of worship.  (Isn’t the government after all sending you a rebate check to help stimulate the economy.  Go and spend it.  Worship at the altars of Walmart, Best Buy, Sears and Dillards).

2.    Cultural diversity is the mantra of our society, especially in the field of education.  Children are indoctrinate to numerous religious practices from a variety of cultures, all in the name of diversity.  While it is good to learn and know about other cultures, in many places, it has moved beyond mere education and information to discipleship.

3.    Pragmatism is the name of the game.  What ever we need to do get ahead and gain advantage.

Elijah, standing on Mount Carmel nearly 3000 years ago, poses a question we need today: “How long will we waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow Him.  If not, follow someone else.

We will worship someone or something.  That much is certain.  All people are religious people.  We have an innate desire and compulsion to worship someone or something.  Even atheists have a religion.  They may not worship God, but they worship something, whether it is science, or reason, or humanity, or self.

We have room in our hearts to serve only one god.  There is not space for two or more.  Even in polytheistic religions, one god is worshiped as supreme.  At the pinnacle of your heart, where there is room for only one and nothing else, what resides there?  That is your chief god.  That is your supreme god you serve.

We are called to commit to the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The God who sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.  It is Him or someone else.  That is the choice.  We can go on pretending we are serving him all the while we have competing allegiances.  But God will suffer no rivals.  And it is impossible to set another along side him.

Elijah’s call echos in our ears today.  Who are you committed to?  Who are you serving?  Where do your loyalties lie?  It may be easier if there are many who join with us in serving the Lord.  But we must commit to serve the one true God even if no one else will.

Who are you serving?  Commit to the Lord.

Elijah: The Blame Game

Preached February 13, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

Introduction

The manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun—until it bounced off his forehead.

The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. ‘You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!’

Blame is a fun game to play isn’t it?  It is much easier to point fingers at others than to take responsibility for our own actions and choices.

A man angrily jumped out of his car after a collision with another car. “Why don’t you people watch where you’re driving?” he shouted wildly. “You’re the fourth car I’ve hit today!”

Our spiritual lives seem like that sometimes.  When heaven seems closed and God seems silent and distant and our souls are parched, we blame the preacher for not “feeding the flock.”  Or the music ministry because the music isn’t worshipful enough.  Or the Sunday School teacher or class.  Sometimes we even blame God. When we drift far from God and everything is dry and barren, we point to everyone and everything else, except ourselves.

There are two reasons for spiritual dryness:

1)    God is allowing us to experience a difficult season in our lives to cultivate our character.  In this case, it only seems that God is absent and distant.  He is strengthening our patience and endurance and after a season, we can look back and see how he has worked in our lives.

2)    Another reason is that we have drifted away from God and he is allowing us to experience the consequences of our actions.  While God may let us drift for a while, eventually God comes knocking down the door.

Israel has been experiencing drought– physical and spiritual– for three years.  Elijah showed up and announced to Ahab that it would not rain.  And then Elijah disappeared off the radar screen.  People were looking for him, but he was not to be found.  God’s prophets are in hiding and no one is proclaiming the word of God openly to the people.  It is a dry time.  No rain water and no living water coming down.

But now, Elijah has resurfaced.  God has brought him out of his exile and is now bringing him to confront Ahab.  Meeting Obadiah, Elijah orders him to tell Ahab he is back.  Ahab gets word and comes after Elijah.

1 Kings 18:16-20 (ESV) 
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
[17] When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”  [18] And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.  [19] Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
[20] So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 

Ahab’s first word to Elijah is one of contempt and animosity.  He calls him a TROUBLER OF ISRAEL.  The word troubler means to disturb or stir up.

It is used in the book of Joshua in a very famous passage.  Perhaps Ahab had this episode in mind when he called Elijah a troubler.

God delivered Jericho into the hands of Joshua and the Israelites.  But he gave them a stern warning.

    Joshua 6:18 (ESV)  But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 

In other words, it is going to be bad news if the Israelites do not obey God and instead keep things that should have been destroyed.

Joshua 7:1 (ESV)  But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

This is bad news for Israel.  They go into battle against Ai, and they lose.  They lose badly.  Joshua, frightened and confused, cries out to God.  God answers him and tells him that there is sin in the camp.  They search and discover Achan’s sin.  Joshua confronts Achan.

Joshua 7:25 (ESV)   And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

So Ahab sees Elijah, and he calls him a “trouble-maker.”  Elijah is blamed for no rain.  He is accused of bringing harm on the people.  It is insinuated that Elijah is not a patriot, is not a supporter of the crown, is not a friend to the people.

Ahab is doing something that is common among many people.  When God begins to rebuke or judge people because of idolatrous and wicked choices, people get angry and start pointing to others.  We blame others for our sins.  We get angry at God when he righteously judges.

But Elijah turns it around immediately.  “I have not troubled Israel– you have!  This is your fault.”  Drought was upon the people because of their sin.  Spiritual drought as a form of judgment comes upon us when we:

1.    Abandon the Word of God. 

Neglecting the Word of God will dry our souls.  We wither and begin to dry when we are not nourished when God speaks into our souls through his word.

    2.    Abandon the Worship of God. 

When we turn from the Word of God, we will start being infused with another message.  We start looking for spiritual nourishment from other places.  In Ahab’s case, it was from Baal.  He abandoned the worship of God to worship Baal.

    3.    Abandon our Witness for God.

Instead of leading Israel to God and setting the pace for worship, Ahab became an evangelist for Baal.

This is why trouble came.   Ahab and Israel were suffering because they forgot the Second commandment.

Exodus 20:4-6 (ESV)  You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  [5] You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,  [6] but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

God will suffer no rivals.  If we follow in Ahab’s footsteps and Abandon the Word of God, Worship of God, and our witness for God, we will soon experience chastisement.  And if we do, there is no one to blame but ourselves.  When people come and complain to me that God seems far away and they don’t seem to get much out of church, I want to check these three areas of their lives.  You see, when we are in the Word, when we Worship, and when we Witness, there is no deadness.  There is life and vitality.

Proverbs: What God Hates

Preached February 17, 2008

Introduction

Proverbs 6:16-19 

God… hate?  Doesn’t seem to go together.  Yet God does hate some things.
V. 16

6, no 7– indicates this is not an exhaustive list (no mention of sexual sin, stealing, idol worship, etc.)

Hate, abomination– strong language.  Hard to imagine a more definitive way to express God’s displeasure.

These things provoke loathing from God.

Seven items listed.

1st five are connected to body parts

last 2 are lifestyle practices

So, we are talking about how we live– a way of life God hates.

1.    Haughty Eyes

a.    A proud look that betrays an arrogant heart.

b.    Lit– “High Eyes.”  Refuses to bow in reverence or recognize someone else as superior.

c.    Willful defiance and disrespect.

d.    Looking at others with contempt

2.    Lying Tongue

a.    A person with no regard for the truth.

b.    By lying, this person seeks to rearrange the facts to give him an advantage.

c.    Trying to redefine the world to gain an advantage and not have to live by the normal rules of life.

d.    Distorts reality for selfish gain.

3.    Hands that shed innocent blood

a.    Violent person

b.    Temper and anger problem

c.    Profound lack of respect for human life.

d.    Not just limited to murder, but a contempt for people in general.

4.    Heart that devises wicked schemes

a.    A con artist who is trying to take advantage of others.

b.    Just wanting to get ahead, no matter the cost, or hurt to other people.

5.    Feet that make haste to run to evil

a.    Enthusiasm for doing wrong

b.    Heart– inner man plotting

c.    Feet– Outer man executing plans

6.    False witness who breaths out lies

a.    Different than verse 17– That was a distortion of the fact.

b.    This is complete and total fabrication

c.    This is the subversion of justice

d.    Slander and malicious gossip

e.    A wicked person lies as easily as he breathes.

7.    One who sows discord among brothers

a.    Do the other 6 things, no question your will have chaotic relationships

b.    Trouble maker.  This is a problem person.

Summary

We call the person doing these things: Self-centered

So what does God love?

Humility, honest, respect for life, pure thoughts, eagerness to do good, truthfulness, and peaceful harmony

IE– Loving others

How can we keep from becoming a Proverbs 6:16-19 kind of person?

Colossians 3:1-17

1.    It begins with the work of Christ– the new life we have in Him.

2.    We focus on Him and grow in our relationship with him.

3.    We systematically destroy the works of the flesh with the aid of the Holy Spirit.  (ie– Struggle with lying, start working on it.)

4.    Instead we cultivate Godly virtues, remembering that our character comes from Christ and his work in us.

Notice everything in Chapter 3 takes us back to Christ (v. 1-4, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16).

5.    We must especially let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly.

SO… God works in us and we cooperate with God by strengthening the good and tearing out the bad.

Proverbs: Boundaries for Better Relationships

Proverbs 3:19-35  •  February 10, 2008

Introduction

This week, the Tennessean (Nashville newspaper) reported that the Georgia State Legislature has a resolution in the works to attempt to extend the Georgia boarder with Tennessee and annex part of Tennessee.  The resolution, which has passed early hurdles but has not received final passage, claims that the boundary was erroneously surveyed in 1818 and that Georgia has never accepted it. The resolution calls for the creation of a “Georgia-Tennessee Boundary Line Commission” that would perform joint surveys and change the line to the “definite and true” boundary line: exactly following the 35th parallel.
What is the drive for this move?  Georgia desperately needs water.  By moving the boarder by a little over a mile, the state would gain access to the Tennessee River and Nickajack Reservoir.

Tennesseans are mildly amused, and have offered to settle it with a football game or a wrestling match.  One Tennessee state politician suggested floating an armada of University of Tennessee fans down the Tennessee River to defend the state’s honor.  Others see it as a serious issue and should this move by Georgia gain momentum, things could turn ugly.

Whether it is states or individuals, there are certain boundaries that should not be crossed.  If they are, if certain lines are ignored, serious problems could develop between people.  Certain lines should not be crossed.

Proverbs is a book that not only addresses our relationship with God and provides guidance for navigating life, but it helps us learn to live with one another.

Proverbs 3:19-24

●    God is the creator of everything.  He is the manufacturer.  He knows how life works.  We need to listen to him.  We need to plug into his wisdom.

●    Having wisdom means we are connected to God.  This in turn gives us:

○    Stability– we will not stumble.

○    Security– we will be safe.

●    Make sure your relationship with God is what it is supposed to be so that you will not be negatively influenced by those around you.

  6 Boundaries (Negatively Stated)

1.    3:25-26 – Do not abandon your walk with God.

a.    No matter what else may happen, or what relationships you may or may not have, your relationship with God must be the top priority.

b.    He is to be your source of confidence and strength.

c.    Others are good, and it is nice to have someone with skin on.  But ultimately, if we have not established our confidence in the Lord, we will have unhealthy relationships with other people

i.    We invest too much in them.

ii.    We expect too much from them.

2.    3:27 – Do not withhold good.

a.    “Due” means owed.  We owe a debt of goodness to those around us.   We must pay it.

b.    When you have the ability to do good, do it.

c.    When we owe a debt, any debt, it must be paid.  In the New Testament, we find the one debt we will never be able to fully pay is the debt of love to others.

3.    3:28 – Do not delay paying your debts.

a.    Do not delay paying your debts, especially your debts of kindness, until some later time.

b.    Tomorrow very rarely comes.

4.    3:29– Do not deal treacherously with others.

a.    Attacking an unsuspecting neighbor.

b.    Plan is same word as plow– carefully plotting your course.

c.    ILL– Ahab & Jezebel’s theft of Naboth’s vineyard (2 Kings 21:1-29)

5.    3:30– Do not quarrel with your neighbor.

a.    Don’t pick an unnecessary fight.

b.    ILL– Frivolous lawsuits.

6.    3:31-32 – Do not envy the wicked.

a.    Too tempting to fall in love with the lifestyles of the wicked and ungodly.

b.    The violent man is one who exercises power over others– physically or verbally abusing others to get their way.

c.    They are not to be envied because God detests them.  Their way of life leads away from God.

APPLICATION –  Let’s condense and restate these in a positive way…

1.    Be Generous– Give what is good to those around us.

a.    Romans 13:7-8 (ESV)  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. [8] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

b.    Give quickly.

2.    Be Peaceable– live peaceable with all people.

a.    Romans 12:16-18 (ESV)  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited.  [17] Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  [18] If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

3.    Be Content– Contentment with what we are and have is the way to avoid the sin of envy.

4.    Be generous toward others, be peaceable toward others, and be content.

Conclusion

Proverbs 3:33-35–  Compare the wise and the foolish.

The way we treat others is an indication of how we are related to God.  If we are mean spirited and wicked toward those around us, God will be displeased.  They are under his curse, are scorned, and disgraced.

Those who love the Lord and love their neighbors are blessed, receive favor, and inherit honor.

The Thessalonian Letters: Gospel Disciple-Making

Preached February 17, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

1 Thes. 2:1-16 (ESV)
For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. [2] But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. [3] For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, [4] but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. [5] For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed— God is witness. [6] Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. [7] But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. [8] So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
[9] For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. [10] You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. [11] For you know how, like a father with his children, [12] we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
[13] And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. [14] For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, [15] who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind [16] by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last!

The boy was at a crossroads. His parents had taken him to church when he was younger. But over the last few years, church and Christianity was not a high priority. His parents’ marriage was crumbling and the home was becoming a war zone. Added pressures of a layoff for the father followed by reeducation to try to find a new job and long working hours for the mother left the children to see about themselves much of the time.

The boy was transitioning between middle school to high school, which meant changing schools. Many of his familiar friends were gone. High school brought many new challenges the boy was trying to navigate alone. Alcohol, drugs, sex, rebellion, and paganism were at his finger tips. He was at a crossroads many teenagers face.

What would become of him? Statistically, he was headed for trouble. The deck was stacked against him.

What would you do for that boy? All around us are teenagers and children and young adults and senior adults and median aged adults who are at a crossroads. On one hand, they can go down the path that leads them off of a precipice. Or, they can be led in a different direction. All they need is a guide.

Have you noticed how many guides there are in the world? How many people want to influence you away from God and Christ and truth and hope and faith and love? They try to seduce you to worship the false gods of sensuality and materialism and self. They promise no limits, no boundaries, only freedom to do exactly what you want to do. The result is marriages crumble, addictions slip a noose around necks, and people are desperate.

As a Christian, every single one of us is called to be a guide for others. Jesus used a different phrase. He called us to “make disciples.” A disciple maker is a guide. A person who comes along side and helps others walk with Christ.

Just like that boy who was at a crossroads, we all know people, young and old, who need encouragement in the right direction. Right now you have friend who is about to walk out on her marriage, hoping for something better. You have a friend who is making reckless choices and can’t see the harm that is going to come to him and others. You know teenagers and children who are wandering through life because they don’t know any better. You know someone who is searching spiritually.

And you can make a difference in their lives. As Christians, we know that Jesus Christ is the answer, that the Lord is our only hope. We have the Gospel– the Good News of how Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection can transform our lives and our world. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

So, as Christians, we are called to make a difference in the lives of people, to be disciple makers.

Whose life do you want to make a difference in for the kingdom of God?

How can we do it?

1. A disciple maker pleases God above all others. (vv. 4-5)

a. We must not begin with the disciple. We must not begin with ourselves. We must begin with God.

i. ILL– Army Boot Camp– not about what the recruit wants or likes. Aim is not to please them, but the Army.

b. As disciple makers, pleasing God is job #1.

i. V. 4– He called us.

ii. V. 4– He evaluates us.

iii. V. 5– He watches us.

John Stott: “No secret of Christian ministry is more important than its fundamental God-centeredness. The stewards of the gospel are primarily responsible neither to the church, [nor to people], but to God himself. On the one hand, this is a disconcerting fact because God scrutinizes our hearts and their secrets, and his standards are very high. On the other hand, it is marvelously liberating, since God is a more knowledgeable, impartial and merciful judge than any human being or ecclesiastical court or committee. To be accountable to him is to be delivered from the tyranny of human criticism.”

c. We play to an audience of 1– The Lord

d. For Paul, Silas and Timothy, being approved by God, trusted by God and searched by God banished any possibility of dishonesty from their hearts and stirred them to fearless, persistent Gospel proclamation.

e. Nothing provides a better check to self-seeking in Christian work than a constant awareness of God.

2. A disciple maker genuinely cares for disciples. (7-9, 11)

a. Many who operate under the banner “Christian” who are merely doing all they can to take advantage of people.

b. We, like Paul, must act like a tender mother and loving father.

i. Nursing mother– gentle, caring, giving without getting anything in return.

ii. Father– carefully guides and instructs his children

iii. Both motivated by sacrificial love for the well-being of the child.

iv. This is what discipleship ought to look like.

c. Giving or sharing our lives with those we are discipling. You can’t make a difference in the life of a person and keep them at arm’s distance.

d. Paul worked hard for the benefit of the Thessalonians. He was self-sacrificing for their benefit.

3. A disciple maker faithfully lives the Gospel. (6, 9-10)

a. The Gospel changes everything. It redirects our lives.

i. If we are going to be used by God to make a difference in the lives of other people, then our lives must be transformed.

ii. Paul modeled the Gospel with his entire life.

b. We must live out the message we share. We are to model the Gospel.

i. Discipleship is more caught than taught.

ii. ILL– easy to teach a lesson on prayer. Must more effective to see prayer in action

iii. Our disciples begin to emulate and reflect us.

c. Our lives must be consistent with the message we proclaim. This is crucial for parents who want their children to grow up to love God.

d. V. 10– Holy living witnessed by the Thessalonians. Can the people you are influencing give testimony to your holy lifestyle?

4. A disciple maker boldly declares the Gospel. (1-3, 4, 11, 13)

a. We have only one message. Not just empty, pointless words. Not false words. We give clear, persuasive teaching of the Gospel.

b. It is often opposed. Those who stand for the Gospel will be persecuted.

c. The Gospel is the message that Jesus is Savior and Lord.

5. A disciple maker calls for commitment to the Lord. (12, 14-16)

a. A disciple maker models, teaches, and then expects the disciple to live it.

b. Accountability to live God’s way sorely lacking today. We don’t expect much from one another. Possibly because we are not living the way we should.

c. We must live holy lives and call others to holiness as well. We must live for Christ, no matter the cost.

Conclusion

Are you a disciple maker? God wants you to be one.

Back to the boy– Several people came into his life at just the right time. They loved God and sought to please him above all others. They genuinely cared for the boy. They modeled the message they shared. They called the boy to commit to Christ, to live for him.

People like Danny and Penny, Chip and Justin, Mike and Bill. They discipled the boy who is preaching this message to you today. I am a product of discipleship. People made a difference in my life. You can make a difference in the lives of others.

Will you make a difference in a life today? Will you be a disciple maker?

The Thessalonian Letters: Gospel Conversion

Preached February 10, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

1 Thes. 1:9-10 (ESV)
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,  [10] and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 

The process of metamorphosis in nature is fascinating.  An insect egg is laid and develops.  In 4 days it hatches and becomes a caterpillar.  For two weeks the caterpillar eats, and stores up energy.  It enters the pupa stage and forms a chrysalis (hard outer casing).  For 10 days it is in the chrysalis.  While encased, the caterpillar is undergoing extraordinary transformation.  At the end of 10 days, a monarch butterfly emerges and lives for another couple of months.

Monarchs, the state insect of Texas by the way, are a great illustration of what happens to us when we become Christians.  We undergo a transformation or conversion when we become a child of God.

There was a point in our lives when we were lost, sinful, corrupt, spiritually dead, enemies of God.  But God, in his mercy brought about transformation of our lives through the cross of Jesus Christ, the drawing of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of our sins.

John 3:3 (NKJV)   Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

    2 Cor. 5:17 (NKJV)  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

    Acts 3:19 (NKJV)  Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

New birth, new creation, new life– all words and phrases to describe our transformation or conversion.  Last week, I told you that God initiates and completes our salvation.  This is called election.  But God uses the process of conversion to save us.  Unless you have been converted, you are not a child of God, your sins have not been forgiven, you do not have a home in heaven, and you are separated from the love and mercy of Christ. Just like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, conversion is a radical reorientation of one’s life.

While some things remain the same, there are fundamental differences.  When we are converted, we are still the same person, but we have new character, new life, new hope, new direction, new focus, new relationship with God.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 describes the process of conversion, what conversion looks like in the lives of the Thessalonian believers and in our lives too.  What does conversion entail?

1.    Repentance: “turning to God from idols”

a.    The Thessalonian church was filled with Gentiles.

i.    Gentiles worshiped many false gods.  Family gods, city gods, patron gods for their line of work, imperial gods of Rome, cult of Caesar.

ii.    You could have as many gods as you wanted, just as long as you didn’t abandon any of them.  To do so might bring the wrath of the gods down on the community.

b.    But to become a Christian, you cannot worship other Gods.  There is only one God, and he is a jealous God.  He will not allow you to serve him and other gods.  An idol is anything we establish in our lives that might compete with God’s preeminence.  An idol is a God-substitute.  This includes family, vocation, food, sex, entertainment, power, money, and pleasure.

i.    Many so-called Christians today try to have the One True God on one hand and have their pet gods on the other.  They come to worship on Sunday, but the rest of the week, they worship their idols.

ii.    But Paul teaches us that we cannot really worship God if we hold onto our idols.  We cannot be converted if we do not turn from idols.

c.    Turning means repentance.  Repentance is a changing of one’s heart and life.  True repentance is a thorough change both of mind and lifestyle.

i.    Repentance means turning from all sin to all good.  True repentance includes sorrow for sin and a broken heart over our idolatry.

ii.    Repentance is not a half step of merely adding Jesus Christ to your cabinet of worshiped objects.  It is a radical step of abandoning the gods of this world, and the lifestyle of immorality and wickedness the worship of those idols bring.

d.    Repentance is a willful act of turning from one path and proceeding in another direction.  It is turning to God.  This turning to God leads to:

2.    Commitment: “serving the living and true God”

a.    Take note of whom we serve.  God is living and true.  He is not imaginary.  He is not created in our minds.  He is alive.  He is real.  He is nothing like the idols we worship in our hearts.

b.    We are to serve him.  The word serve comes from the Greek word for “SLAVE.”  It refers to total commitment to God.

c.    We must give God our total commitment in worship.

i.    Worship is devotion and love given to someone or something.

ii.    Whom or what do you worship?  Consider what you are most devoted to, what you are most committed to.

iii.    Is it a job, a person, a hobby?

iv.    God alone must receive our highest and greatest commitment in worship.

v.    All of life is to be an expression of worship to God.  We worship.  It is not just Sunday Church stuff.

vi.    When you work, work for the Glory of God.  When you play, play in a way the honors God.  When you go about the mundane of life, do it in a way that screams, “I love the Lord!  I am committed to him!  I offer all that I am to him as a sacrifice of praise.”

d.    Serving God means living a just and good life.  It means we will love our neighbors and show mercy to those who need it.  It means we show love to the unlovely and compassion to those who deserve retribution.  It means we help the helpless and comfort the afflicted.  It also means we confront injustice and defend the weak.  It means we celebrate what is right and pure and noble.

e.    It means we serve our fellow man by taking them by the hand and leading them to the Savior.

f.    This commitment to the Lord does not last for a little while and then expire.  There is no retirement age when it comes to being committed to the Lord.  (ILL– Brother Richardson sharing the Gospel with Jeremy at Colonial Village).

3.    Perseverance: “waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ”

a.    Notice how Christ is described:

i.    He is God’s Son.  He is deity.

ii.    He comes from heaven.  He is seated in the throne room of all creation and rules it.

iii.    He is the Jesus- a real person who lived historically.

iv.    He is the one who died on the cross and rose from the dead, defeating death and by doing so, the one who gives us eternal life.

v.    He is the one who delivers us from wrath.  God’s wrath is God’s righteous judgment against those who are evil and disobey the truth.  It is not an irrational outburst of passion by God or a fit of temper.  Rather if God is holy, pure and righteous, then his wrath represents a just reaction to the wickedness of those who rebel and sin against him.

(1)    And Jesus delivers us from it.  We deserve God’s wrath.

(2)    But Jesus bore it on the cross for us and we can be forgiven.

b.    We are to wait for the coming of this Jesus.  One day Jesus is going to return.  All the promises will be fulfilled.

c.    Until then, we persevere.  We don’t quit.  We don’t turn away.  We don’t give up.  We keep on turning away from idols to serve the living and true God.  And we don’t abandon Him.

d.    Waiting means we are patient and we trust him.  We have sustained expectation.  The result of genuine conversion is perseverance to the end.

Conclusion–

If you remove one of these things– Repentance, Commitment, or Perseverance– you do not have genuine conversion.  But remember, God initiates and completes it. Philip. 1:6 “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”  Have you been converted?

Elijah: Unlimited Obedience

Preached February 6, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

Introduction

We all have limits.

Money we spend, activities we do, entertainment, work… Thing we will and will not do.

When it comes to obeying the Lord, do we have any limits?  When we grow in our faith, we are going to be pushed and challenged.  And at some point, we will reach a place where we have to make a decision– obey God fully or pull back and disobey him.

1 Kings 18:1-2

●    After three years, God tells Elijah to go and appear before Ahab.  We learn in 18:10, Ahab has been pursuing Elijah everywhere.  And it is not for a friendly chat.

●    Sometimes, God will call us to do extremely uncomfortable, dangerous things.

●    Elijah has been so conditioned though in 1 Kings 17 with his experiences at Cherith and Zarephath to trust God when he tells him to do something.

●    Obeying God take courage.  Or to say it another way, obeying God means we have to trust God when he directs us.

●    Every act of obedience carries some level of risk.

1 Kings 18:3-6

●    Obadiah & Ahab

○    Ahab is selfish and cares nothing about the people.  His great concern is making sure he doesn’t loose his livestock.

○    Obadiah is providing for 100 prophets of God.  At great personal risk and sacrifice.

●    Obadiah & Elijah

○    There is more than one way to serve the Lord.

-    Elijah was bold, confrontational, intrusive.

-    Obadiah was also bold, but he worked within the system to make a difference.

○    Elijah and Obadiah both served the Lord in their own way.

○    Obadiah feared the Lord.  This dictated his actions.

-    He saved 100 prophets, at great risk and cost to himself.

-    Jezebel was trying to kill the prophets.

●    Like Elijah, we need some believers who will confront the culture and work from the outside in.

●    Like Obadiah, we need some believers who will engage the culture and work from the inside out.

●    All believers are to fear God and choose to obey him in and out of the culture.

1 Kings 18:7-15

●    Obadiah sees Elijah in the distance.  Elijah has a mission for him.  Tell Ahab he has returned.

●    Obadiah is nervous.  He knows this may not go well for him.

●    Obadiah had been faithful to God, stuck out his neck, and wrecked Jezebel’s plot to kill off the prophets.  Surely he had done enough.

○    Do we limit our obedience to God?  Do we think “I’ve put my dues in?  I’ve done enough?  Surely someone else can do this part!”

●    Simon Robinson comments: “Surely he had done enough for the cause.  Wasn’t there someone else who could replace him as the risk-taker now?  When he hid the prophets, he had a sense of being in control; he could hide them, feed them and cover his tracks.  However, if he were to tell the king that Elijah wanted to meet him, he would have no control over the possible outcome.”

●    Elijah assures him that he will in fact be right where he tells him he will be.

●    Obedience is never the easy choice.

1 Kings 18:16

●    Obadiah goes and tells Ahab.

●    This sets up one of the most incredible moments in the entire OT.

Application

Proverbs 29:25 (ESV)  The fear of man lays a snare,  but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

There are three levels of obedience I see in this passage.  Each level brings some measure of risk and some level of commitment required.

    Level 1:    Personal Conviction  
Obadiah feared the Lord.

    Level 2:    Private Action
Obadiah aided the prophets.

    Level 3:    Public Declaration
Obadiah announced Elijah to King Ahab.

How far will you go when it comes to obeying the Lord?  Are you drawing boundaries or limitations on your obedience?
Following the Lord may cost you and may be dangerous.  Obadiah came to a cross-roads and had to make a choice.  He chose to serve the Lord.  It was tough and frightening, but ultimately he chose wisely.

Obadiah and Elijah both served God faithfully, in different ways.  You don’t have to be a radical prophet living in the wilderness to serve God.  You don’t have to quit you job.  You don’t have to disengage from society and live in the wilderness.  But you do have to be willing to do anything God asks of you.

Will you fear man, and fall short of obeying God?

Or will you fear God?

Proverbs 14:26-27 (ESV)  In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,  and his children will have a refuge. [27] The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,  that one may turn away from the snares of death.

The Thessalonian Letters: A Gospel Church

Preached February 3, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

Everyone has opinions on what “church” should look like and be like. There are several categories where people have strong opinions:
Architecture– imposing Cathedrals to traditional colonial meeting houses to doing the best you can in the jungle with a simple lean-to made with sticks and leaves to very simple frame building

Interior– very ornate and formal to informal and casual, some even with no walls

Pulpits– some are massive works of art and others simple and rugged.

Music style– classical, southern gospel, traditional, contemporary

Order of service– liturgical high church, to low church informal, to no liturgy at all

Style– traditional style, contemporary, formal, informal

But ultimately, none of those things have anything to do with church.

Churches are like cars. When you buy a car, you have many choices when it comes to features and accessories. From the paint color to power windows and locks to electric seats to leather or cloth interior, many options for people. The paint doesn’t fundamentally change the car. It is just a preference. The fundamental thing is that it has an engine, and a frame, and wheels and runs.

Unfortunately Christians today are fighting over the color of the car and could care less about the car itself. In other words, we fight over preferences but neglect the substance of church.

Definitions:

Church– a congregation of Christ’s baptized disciples, united in belief of what He has said, and covenanting to do what he has commanded. So we are talking about people committed to Christ and to one another.

Gospel Church– or a New Testament Church, as opposed to “so-called” or false churches, is committed to Jesus Christ in spirit & truth. Many cults and false religions that claim the name church but really are not because they do not submit and worship Christ.

5 Essential Marks of a Gospel Church – 1 Thess. 1:1-8

1. A Gospel Church is founded by God’s loving choice. (v 4)

a. This is where it all begins. Salvation and church and the Christian life and our hope doesn’t begin or even end with us. It begins and ends with God.

b. Election is a word we understand in our day to day lives. ILL– Electing a president. But it is horribly misunderstood when it comes to God. So let me try to explain it.

c. Election means God initiates and completes our salvation.

d. ILL– in adoption, a person goes to an orphanage or to an agency and selects a child to adopt. That child is chosen and brought into a new family.

e. God’s election of us is based on love and mercy in action.

f. Many questions that Scripture doesn’t shed a lot of light on for us like what about those not elect and can we resist God’s election. I don’t know about those areas. But one thing I do know, is if it were not for God’s gracious act, no one would be saved and none of us would be here.

g. John 6:44 (NKJV) No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

h. John 15:16 (NKJV) You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

i. Ephes. 1:3-6 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, [4] just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, [5] having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, [6] to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

j. A Gospel Church is populated by people God has lovingly drawn to himself and redeemed.

2. A Gospel Church is committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. (vv. 1, 3)

a. The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our lives and our church. Without Jesus, nothing matters.

b. To quote the grand hymn: “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

c. In v. 3, we see that Jesus is the focus of our faith. A Gospel church will be Christocentric or Christ Centered and Christ Focused. It is all about Jesus!

3. A Gospel Church is empowered by the Holy Spirit. (vv. 5,6)

a. In Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the church in a new way. He empowered the church to fulfill all that Christ commanded and purposed for us.

b. In verse 5, we find the Holy Spirit enables us to receive the Gospel.

i. The Holy Spirit illumines the Gospel or makes the Gospel understandable.

ii. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1 that the Gospel is foolishness to those who do not believe.

iii. John 16:8-11 (NKJV) And when He (Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: [9] of sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; [11] of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

iv. John 16:13 (NKJV) However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

v. 1 Cor. 2:12-13 (NKJV) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. [13] These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

c. The Holy Spirit enables us to rejoice in the Gospel (v. 6)

i. The gospel came to the Thessalonians in affliction. Yet they rejoiced.

ii. Though the Holy Spirit we are able to find joy in Christ no matter what happens.

4. A Gospel Church is characterized by Christian Virtue. (v 3)

a. Faith, love, and hope are the three cardinal virtues of every believer, and the virtues of every Gospel church.

b. These virtues are active.

i. Faith is Expressing trust in what God has done.

ii. Hard working love (working to the point of weariness).

iii. Enduring hope in Christ that does not erode with time.

5. A Gospel church bears witness to the Gospel. (v. 8 )

a. A Gospel church has been transformed by the Good News, the greatest news and a gospel church is compelled to spread it abroad.

b. At home– we share with our neighbors and family

c. And abroad– through the whole world.

Conclusion – This is what a Gospel church is and what it looks like. And remember, a church is composed of people. So, when we look at these essential characteristics of a church, we have to analyze our personal lives in view of them.

1. Are we a people established by God’s loving choice? In other words, has God worked in our lives to save us and adopt us?

2. Are we committed to the Lord Jesus Christ above all others?

3. Are we living in the power of the Holy Spirit day by day to be and do all God want us to be and do?

4. Are our lives marked by active faith, love and hope?

5. Are we bearing witness to the world around us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which alone is their only hope?

We must embody the Gospel (relationship with Triune God & our lifestyle) & pass it on (message).

Elijah: God’s Modus Operandi in Our Lives

Preached January 30, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

When a human being is born, we call that person an infant. An infant is one who is by definition immature, or not fully grown. We reserve that term for adults or “grown-ups.”

Spiritually, we must mature and grow as well. God uses a process to help us grow from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. This process follows a predictable, regular pattern. This is generally how God works. It is his Modus Operandi or M.O. in our lives.

Five steps in the M.O. or process:

1) Command– God reveals his will to his people and commands us to be or do something.

2) Promise– A promise is connected to the command.

● Promise can be positive or negative (ie– blessings or cursings)

● Promise can be stated or implied

● Promise can be temporal or eternal, physical or spiritual

3) Faith– The response of the person God reveals his command and promise to is one of faith. Biblical faith has two aspects to it:

● Belief

● Obedience– it is not genuine faith until there is obedience.

● Comparing Paul and James together we see this clearly.

Paul in Romans 4 tells us that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. James tells us in James 2 that faith without works is dead, and Abraham was counted righteous by what he did.

4) Fulfillment – When we respond in obedience, God blesses us and fulfills his promise to us.

5) Repeat– the process is then repeated over and over again because this is the process of maturity, and we all must continue to mature spiritually.

We see this M.O. at work in three scenes in 1 Kings 17.

Scene 1: The Brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:1-7)

● v 1– Confronted Ahab and Jezebel

● vv 2-3 – Sent by God to Cherith
○ Command
○ Sometimes, God doesn’t want us to be in the lime-light. Sometimes he calls us to back-corners, and back-waters just to sit still and be quiet for a little while.

● v 4 – God promises to take care of Elijah.
○ Remember a drought is on, which will bring a famine.
○ God promises supernatural resources to care for Elijah.
○ God’s direction includes God’s provision.
○ Even when God gives us an order that doesn’t make sense, we can trust him.

● v 5– Elijah goes.
○ He has to believe God will do what he said he would do. Follow it up with action.
○ God’s promises often hinge on our obedience.
○ What if Elijah did not go? No provisions. Even though it was strange to go to the wilderness, that is what God said to do.
○ We must not forget our part.

● v 6 – God keeps his word and the promise is fulfilled.
○ We must trust God one day at a time.

● v 7 – Eventually, the brook runs dry. God then gives a new command. The process is about to repeat itself.
○ God sends ever increasing challenges to our faith to make it grow so we can mature.

Scene 2: To Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16)

● vv 8-9a – God now commands Elijah to go to “enemy” territory.
○ Zarephath is 8 miles south of Sidon and 13 miles north of Tyre, in the domain of Jezebeel’s father Ethbaal.
○ Gentile land, heathen land, idol-polluted land.
○ God is going to teach two important lessons though:
- Baal failed this woman. Baal was the god of the storm and fertility. Yet she is about to starve to death. Yahweh will take care of her though.
- God is judging Israel. Luke 4 tells us there were plenty of widows in Israel, yet God chooses to give mercy to a heathen widow in Zarephath. Don’t presume on God’s grace (Israel) and don’t limit God’s grace.

● v 9b – God promises the widow will take care of Elijah.

● vv 10-14 – Elijah acts on faith and obeys, but this time it is more difficult. The widow protests.
○ Faith is now challenged. Not easy.
○ Elijah doesn’t back down. Faith must often be persistent.

● vv 15-16 – God takes care of Elijah and the widow. God fulfills his promise.
○ When we obey, others often experience blessings too!

Scene 3: With the Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17-24)

● The widow’s son dies and she is left grieving.
○ She is confused. She was doing what God wanted her to do, and now this happens.
○ But God is helping to grow her in her faith.

● v 19– Command– Elijah tells her to bring the boy

● Promise– the implication is that Elijah will take care of it.
○ They believe God can and will do something about this.

● Faith– the woman brings the boy to Elijah
○ Both Elijah and the woman exercise faith, asking God to act on their behalf.

● Fulfillment– God raises the son.
○ The woman declares her faith (converted)

● And though the text doesn’t tell us, we know God will continue to work in the life of the woman.

● In Chapter 18, the command comes once again to Elijah to go back to Ahab. The process repeats itself

Conclusion

Command >> Promise >> Faith >> Fulfillment >> Repeat

This is how God works in our lives. The key for us is to exercise faith in God and obey him whenever he commands us.