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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

Handout – Pictures of the future from Jesus’ birth and childhood

Posted in Matthew 1, Matthew 2, tagged , , , , , on December 28, 2010|

Story #1. Jesus will be despised because of the circumstances of his birth, although they actually point out that he is the promised Messiah – Isaiah 7:14.

Story #2. Jesus will attract Gentiles who will honor him as King.

Story #3. Jesus will show himself to be the faithful Son of God – Hosea 11:1

Story #4. Jesus will be opposed by the Judean authorities who will eventually kill him.

Story #5. Jesus will be despised because of his hometown, Nazareth, although the name actually points to him being the promised branch or Messiah – Isaiah 11:1.

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Give Thanks For God’s Love

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 21, 2010|

I want us to look at the theme of God’s love today, as this is reveled to us in the unfolding story of Scripture, and then even up to today. And I want to do this to show us and to remind us that we ought to give thanks for God’s love to us. Whatever else we have to give thanks for in this season, above all we should give thanks for this.

We begin with –

The beginning

God loved us so much that, he brought us into existence. Having thought of us before the foundation of the world, God acted to create us and give us life. And he gave us a place to live, the earth, and provided for our needs.

Psalm 8:4-6 says, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet”

God loved us so much that despite our wrongdoing, he worked for our salvation and restoration. Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden, but God sought our redemption. Cain ruthlessly murdered his brother Abel, but God raised up another, Seth, through whom salvation would come. At the time of the flood, human wickedness sunk to the depths of depravity, but God chose a remnant and saved Noah and his family. Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.

God loved us so much that he called Abraham to be the father of many nations and the source of our salvation. God said to him, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” – Genesis 12:3. And God gave him a son, Isaac, and a grandson Jacob, who had twelve sons.

God loves us so much! If you believe this, will you say “amen” this morning?  This brings us to –

The time of Israel

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God brought his people out from Egypt and into the land of promise. As Psalm 136:13-14 says, he “divided the Red Sea in two, and made Israel pass through the midst of it . . ..” As Deuteronomy 4:20 says of Israel, “the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance.”

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God gave Israel his word through Moses to guide them. Nehemiah 9:13-14 says about God, “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments . . . and a law by Moses your servant.”

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God bore with Israel as they rebelled against his will in the time of the judges. The people continually strayed from God’s word doing what was right in their own eyes. And they suffered the consequences. But in mercy, God did not let them perish.

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God established David as king to protect and guide Israel. And he became a model of the promised One who was to come, the Messiah and Savior.

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God bore with them as Israel’s kings rebelled. Think of Solomon’s idolatry, the divided kingdom, the complete failure of the Northern kingdom, and the many evil kings of the southern kingdom. Yet God was patient and merciful.

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God spoke to them by the prophets to call them back to his will. As judgment loomed, 2 Chronicles 36:15 says, “The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.”

Because his steadfast love never ceases, God brought his people out of captivity and brought them home. God had sent them away into exile in Babylon because of their sin. But Nehemiah 9:31 says, “In your great mercies (God) you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.” God reestablished them in the land of promise.

God’s steadfast love for his people truly never ceases. If you know this to be true will you say “amen”?  This brings us to –

The fullness of time

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, God sent his son, Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, to save us. As the angel said to Joseph, “he will save his people from their sins” – Matthew 1:21. God knew we could not save ourselves. So he came to us. God became one of us. God did what it took to bring us salvation.

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, Jesus taught us God’s way. Mark 6:34 says, “Jesus . . . saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”

He taught us to turn away from our wrongdoing – and to live a life of love and mercy. And as Mark 1:22 says, “they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority . . ..”

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, Jesus healed people of their ills. Matthew 14:14 says, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

He healed lepers, the blind, the deaf, the paralyzed – he even raised the dead. And the people said, “We never saw anything like this!” – Mark 2:12.

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, Jesus set people free from the evil one. He cast out demons with a mere word. “And the crowds marveled, saying, ‘Never was anyone like this seen in Israel’” – Matthew 9:33.

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, Jesus laid down his life for us to save us from our sins. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” – John 15:13. And this is exactly what he did for each one of us.

As he said, his death was “for many for the forgiveness of sins” – Matthew 26:28. He died so that our sins could be forgiven.

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, the resurrected Jesus gives us new life by the Spirit. As he said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life.” And he told his disciples, “receive the Holy Spirit” – John 20:22. They received new life and the power to live a different kind of life.

As an expression of God’s deep love for us, Jesus commanded this salvation be offered to all. He said “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations” – Luke 24:47. It is for everyone who will receive it.

If you have received God’s deep love for you, will you say “amen”?  This brings us to –

Today

God cares about each one of us, and so he searches after each of us until we are saved. God is not content with the sheep already in the pen. But as 1 Timothy 2:4 says, God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

God cares about each one of us, and so he wants us to know what our purpose in life is; what his plan is for us. God want us to walk in this so that we can find true meaning and significance and peace.

God cares about each one of us, and so he provides for our needs and watches over us in our everyday lives. God doesn’t leave us alone, he continues to walk with us and help us in our times of trial.

If you know God’s love and care for you in these ways, will you say, “amen”?

 

And if you know it, how can you not give thanks for it? Such amazing, indescribable, persistent love. Such undeserved love, freely given to us. We must give thanks for such a priceless gift!

If you don’t know God’s love in your life, open up your life to him. As the apostle Peter put it, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” – Acts 2:38.

  • Ask for and receive the forgiveness of your sins
  • Ask for and receive new life by the Spirit

Receive these gifts of love from God and then you will truly have something to be thankful for. Even if nothing else is going right for you – you can thank God for his love.

William Higgins

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Call to Faithfulness. Luke 6:43-49. The Sermon on the Plain

Posted in Luke 6, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 7, 2010|

We come today to the final part of the Sermon on the Plain. This is Jesus’ conclusion to his own sermon.

But before we jump into this, let’s step back for a minute and take a big picture look at how the sermon is put together. (Additional outline handout)

  • As we saw last week, the second section on loving enemies corresponds to the third section on correcting others. They have a common theme – mercy, and a common structure, with v. 36 in the middle holding them together.
  • Today I would highlight that the first section on blessings and woes corresponds to the fourth section, our focus. They have a similar structure and they share a common theme. Both are about a comparison between faithful and unfaithful disciples.

As you look at the way this sermon is put together, notice the X shape of it. This is a common way of thinking and writing in the ancient world. It’s called a chiastic literary structure. The name comes from the Greek letter Chi which is in the shape of an “x.”

Next, still in big picture mode, let’s look at a summary of the teaching of the sermon thus far:

  • In the first section on blessings and woes we learned that we are to be faithful despite the consequences. Even if it makes us poor, hungry, sorrowful and causes us to be slandered.
  • In the second section on enemies, we learned that we are to love our enemies and return good for evil.
  • In the third section on correcting others, we learned that when we see sin in someone’s life, we are to act with mercy, not judgment or condemnation, so that we can help them get rid of their sin.

In his conclusion then, which is our focus, Jesus uses this teaching as a test – ‘How do you compare?’ ‘Are you faithful?’ I can look at my life and compare it to these three things and see, ‘Am I heading toward faithfulness or am I heading toward unfaithfulness as a disciple?’

So this last section is Jesus’ call to faithfulness for each one of us. In this he challenges us to test two things in our lives.

Test #1: Our words

Do our words line up with Jesus’ teaching here?

vs. 43-45 – “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Let me point out two things here.

1. The principle of the inner and the outer. This teaches us that what’s in your heart, the treasure, what’s stored up in it, the abundance – that’s what comes out. Jesus says, “Each tree is known by its own fruit” – v. 44.

So you can see what is in a person’s heart by how they act. (Now someone can put on a show for a while, but eventually the truth comes out.) There is an unbreakable connection between the inner life of a person and the outer life of a person. The inner is the source of the outer and the outer is a window into the otherwise hidden recesses of the inner.

  • So you can’t say, ‘I am living a life of sin, but this doesn’t really reflect what’s in my heart. And God just cares about my heart. I like Jesus. I have faith so it’s OK.’
  • Or to put it another way – you can’t say, ‘I’m a Christian in my heart of hearts. People just can’t see it. The outward stuff just isn’t that important.’

According to Jesus, a good tree produces good fruit.

2. The focus here in on our words. Jesus pulls vs. 43-45 together by saying “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” So in this case, it is our words that reveal what is in our heart.

Are we a good tree or a bad tree? The test is are our words in agreement with what Jesus has taught in this sermon. More specifically, do we affirm and teach that we are to:

  • be faithful despite the consequences?
  • love our enemies?
  • give mercy to those who fail and sin?

If we do this shows that we are a good tree. We have stored up Jesus’ teaching in our hearts. And so we have a good treasure, which overflows in words that are shaped by Jesus’ teaching. In other words, we show that we are faithful disciples in this area.

Now this same test can be applied to others who come to us and teach. Do their words affirm and teach all that Jesus says in this sermon? When you hear someone preach or teach, or on the TV or the radio – test their words and see.

Test #2: Our actions

Do our actions line up with Jesus’ teaching here? Do we obey Jesus’ teaching?

Now, let me back up a minute. In each of the sections of the Sermon on the Plain so far there has been a word about how to enter the kingdom of God. Let’s look at this briefly:

  • Section one: If we suffer for our faithfulness to Jesus we will be lifted up and blessed in the kingdom of God and not cursed.
  • Section two: If we love our enemies we are “sons” and thus inheritors of the Father’s kingdom; not sinners who have no reward.
  • Section three: If we give mercy to those who fail, we will receive mercy and not judgment or condemnation on the last day.

There is a focus on entering the future kingdom of God in each of these.

Well, in calling us to faithfulness at the end of his message, here in vs. 46-49, Jesus draws this all together and makes the point that our actions based on this sermon as a whole will determine our eternal fate.

We begin with –

v.46 – “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

Jesus’ question is rooted in a contradiction. To call Jesus ‘Lord’ means you are to submit and obey. As Jesus says in 6:40, disciples are supposed to learn from and obey their teachers. But some who call Jesus ‘Lord’ do not submit and obey. This was true in Jesus’ day and it remains true today.

And it just doesn’t make any sense! We say one thing and do another. We indicate that we will listen to Jesus and obey him, but we listen to and obey other voices – while we ignore Jesus.

In vs. 47-49 Jesus gives the parable of the two builders. This compares those who call Jesus Lord and obey him, and those who just call Jesus Lord and don’t obey him. It gives us a picture of the final judgment. And it’s a warning to us.

vs. 47-49 – “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

One house was well built. The builder worked hard and dug deep to lay his foundation on something solid. The second house was not well built. It had no foundation.

Then a storm comes with lots of rain and deep waters. Storms and floods often picture God’s judgment in Scripture (Psalm 18:11-14; Habakkuk 3:3-15; Zephaniah 1:15/ Genesis 6-9; Isaiah 28:2, 17; Ezekiel 13:10-16).

After the rivers were swollen with rain the flood “broke against” both houses.

  • The first house survives the storm. Because it had been well built it “could not be shaken.” It was built on solid rock.
  • The second house, however, immediately falls and “great was the ruin of that house.”

The point is that disciples who only call Jesus Lord, but do not obey him, will be washed away in the storm of the final judgment. This is the second house.   Only disciples who act on Jesus’ words, who obey him, will survive the storm of the final day. This is the first house.

The test, then, is do we obey Jesus’ words? The phrase “my words” refers back to the sermon Jesus has just delivered. We obey his words by living out his teaching here. So –

  • Are you faithful despite the consequences?
  • Do you love your enemies?
  • Do you give mercy to those who fail?

If we live out this teaching, then we show ourselves to be faithful disciples.  Since we have dug deep and built on the foundation of Jesus’ teaching, we will not be shaken.

————

To sum it up, Jesus calls us to faithfulness in two ways. Do our words line up with his teaching here? And – Do our actions line up with his teaching here? We need to test ourselves in these ways so that we can grow more and more in our faithfulness to our Lord.

William Higgins

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Correcting Others. Luke 6:36-42. The Sermon on the Plain

Posted in Luke 6, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2010|

Today we move into the third section of the Sermon on the Plain. Now, these are not just isolated sayings of Jesus strung together for no reason. They all fit together. This can be seen by the careful way that it is put together, which parallels the second section on dealing with enemies, with v. 36 holding them together:

Dealing with enemies (27-35)

  • Two sets of four sayings on loving enemies (27-30)
  • A key principle (31)
  • Some provocative questions (32-34)
  • An exhortation (35)
  • The result of obedience (35)

Center of the sermon (36)

  • Be merciful

Correcting others (37-45)

  • Four mercy sayings (37-38a)
  • A key principle (38b)
  • Some provocative questions (39-42)
  • An exhortation (42)
  • The result of obedience (42)

What this section is about

This part of the sermon is also held together by two interrelated themes: 1. The theme of mercy. This section is set up by the center point of the sermon – v. 36, which says, “Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.” And this mercy theme is continued in vs. 37-38, when it talks about forgiveness as opposed to condemnation.

2. And then we also have the theme of correcting others

  • vs. 37-38 are about judging or giving mercy when someone sins
  • v. 39 speaks of someone who is blind who needs guidance
  • vs. 41-42 speaks of correcting others who have sin in their lives

When you put these together, the focus of this section is on correcting others with mercy. It is interesting that the core of Jesus’ sermon highlights two areas that we don’t like to talk about – loving enemies and correcting others.

Jesus’ instructions on giving mercy

judge not and you will not be judged
condemn not and you will not be condemned
forgive and you will be forgiven
give and it will be given to you

The first two are synonymous parallels; they mean pretty much the same thing. Also the second two are parallels – forgive and give, that is, give mercy. It’s not about money so that all of a sudden Jesus changes topics. It’s implied for sure, but it means – give mercy.

Also the first two and the last two are opposites. To not judge or condemn is to forgive or give mercy.

What does it mean to judge someone?

We have begun to answer this, but let’s look more closely because this often confuses people. Jesus is not talking about:

  • discerning what is or is not a sin
  • or calling someone to stop sinning

This is the same Jesus, after all, who told us in Luke 17:3 – “If your brother sins, rebuke him . . ..” Here you have a discernment that something is a sin, and a call for the person to stop doing it.

Rather, judging means that you determine someone is unworthy of mercy – from God or others. Here’s an example of some judging responses. Bob, an addict, stole your car and wrecked it. You might:

  • hold bitterness and hatred against him
  • speak evil against him, his character (James 4:11)
  • look down on and keep away from him, like the Pharisee who said, “God, thank you that I am not like this tax collector – Luke 18:10.
  • withhold forgiveness when there is repentance
  • seek to harm him

What does it mean to give mercy?

Mercy means there is the possibility of redemption and a new start – with both God and others.

Again, Bob, an addict, stole you car and wrecked it. To give mercy, you can:

  • have compassion for him
  • see the good in him
  • recognize you have failed too and you are not that different
  • forgive when there is repentance
  • work with him as he tries to live a new life, giving help and accountability

A key principle

v. 38 – “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” This principle is behind the logic of all four of Jesus’ instructions above. And it is radical! It means – you will get from God what you have given to others, either judgment or mercy. Some motivation here for action! Next we have –

Some provocative questions

– which come in the context of an extended set of sayings on blindness and seeing.

v. 39 – “He also told them a parable: Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” Those who taught others were called guides to the blind. In this case, however, the teacher is also blind, which leads to disaster for both teacher and student. Jesus is saying, ‘Disciples, you are blind. You are still learning and you need a good teacher to guide you.’

In v. 40 he goes on to talk more about teachers and students. “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Jesus is saying to his disciples, ‘Once you’re fully trained, you will be like me.’ Jesus was famous for giving mercy to sinners, prostitutes and tax-collectors. All those that others judged and cast aside. As disciples, we will be known for our mercy as well.

Next comes more questions. vs. 41-42 – “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?”

You know how it feels when you get something in your eye and you can’t see. I can only imagine how it must feel to have a log in your eye. This does present something of an image of the blind leading the blind.

Here’s the point:

  • You see a sin in someone else’s life (a speck) and try to correct it.
  • But you don’t see your much bigger problem that should be corrected first.

Now this could apply to any problem you have that is worse than the issue you are trying to correct in someone else. But here, in context, the log refers to being merciless and judgmental, as you try to correct someone. If you see sin in a Christian’s life you look down on them, speak evil of them and don’t forgive them.

An exhortation

v. 42 – “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye . . ..” Get rid of your much bigger problem, judging and condemning others. Learn mercy and practice forgiveness.

The result of obedience

v. 42 –  “. . . and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Before, with the log in your eye, the correction was just a part of condemning the person. That’s why Jesus calls the person a “hypocrite.” They look like they are doing something good, but they are really only judging someone.

It’s only when you learn mercy for those who struggle and fail that you will “see clearly to take out the speck” in the other person. This is when you’ll actually be able to help someone with their problem, when they fail, when they struggle.

How does it work? If you see sin in a Christian’s life – recognize you have failed too, pray and work for their repentance and forgive when there is repentance.

Finally

How will you respond when you see sin in a fellow Christian’s life? It’s not like this is an uncommon thing.

Remember: If you give judgment and condemnation, not only will you be the blind leading the blind, God will give you judgment and condemnation.

But, if you give mercy and forgiveness, not only will you be able to help, God will give you mercy and  forgiveness. As vs. 38 says, “a good measure (of mercy), pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.”

William Higgins

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Lessons on Loving Enemies

Posted in Luke 6, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2010|

Alright, we have been looking at the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6. And last week we covered the section on Dealing with Enemies. Jesus teaches us here to love our enemies. He tells us, just as you want what is good, so give good to others – whether they deserve it or not.

He also told us that living by ‘an eye for an eye’ gets you no reward, for even sinners do this. But living by love for enemies gets you great reward. That’s because the heavenly Father loves his enemies. And since, ‘like father like son,’ you show yourself to be a son of his, that is, an inheritor of his blessings.

Last week I needed to spend the whole time working with the text trying to lay out what it means. So this week I want to get more into some of the practical realities of loving enemies. I want to do something a little different and tell you some stories and then draw out some lessons I have learned.

Our hostile neighbors

We had been in our house for several years when new people moved in behind us. We lived on a flag lot, so the neighbor’s  property was surrounded by our house and other church property. As soon as they moved in they started making claims that a part of our driveway was actually their land. And it got worse from there.

We had a tree on the border that needed to come down. A part of it had fallen onto our house the last winter in an ice storm and it was diseased. So we told them, but they became hostile. They wanted the tree to stay. In fact, they claimed it was on their land, along with a part of our backyard.

He had anger issues, to say the least. He also liked his alcohol which made things worse. A police man who was later involved in an incident called him “Mr. Testosterone.” He was abusive and a bully. And if anything, I thought she was worse. At one point she was hanging over the fence, taunting and insulting me and the church as I worked in my backyard.

Anyway, I had a trustee over for dinner and told him about all this since our house was owned by the church at this time. I had to go talk to the neighbor about some issues, so we both went over to his house. He went nuts. I was nose to nose with him, kind of looking down on him because I was taller. And he was just screaming and threatening. My trustee and I calmly walked away.

At another point, when I wasn’t home, my wife engaged him about the tree and at that point, full of alcohol, he threatened to shoot her in the head. That’s when the police were brought in to try to talk some sense into him.

Well after the lawyers were brought in an agreement was made whereby the tree would come down and the church would survey the border and put up a fence (which we wanted).

I have to admit it was funny. After the surveyor was done I happened to see the neighbor wife come out to see where the  stake was put. She was standing on it looking out beyond it into our yard, thinking it was hers. But, of course it wasn’t. The border was pretty much right where we thought it was.

It was also sad in a way. The truth is that they had two structures that were too close to the border, without a variance. Although we never required it, it was a bit surreal to see him one day with a chainsaw cutting a part of an overhang off of his house – about four by twelve feet, because it was too close to our driveway.

#1. It’s really hard to love enemies. It doesn’t come naturally. When someone harms me, especially if there’s no cause, I get angry (not as much as I used to thankfully). And there is a part of me that wants to strike back – harm for harm. I want to show them how wrong they were and have them feel some of what they gave to me. So for me, to love enemies requires God to be working in me. Because there is nothing in my flesh that wants to do this. And I am guessing that this is true of most, if not all of you.

#2. If we want to overcome evil with good we have to deal with our anger. Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” We are not to let someone’s evil deeds to us, change us so that we do the same thing back to them. That’s what it means to be overcome by evil. Rather we are to overcome evil with good, by returning good for evil.

So all through out this (it went on for months) I had to learn to give my anger over to God. Otherwise I would have been right there with him ‘in the flesh’ screaming and threatening and worse. I had to trust that God would take care of the wrong that was done to me.

What I learned is that when you do this, and I had to do it daily there for a while, it frees you up to focus on doing good and being Christ-like, which is our job as Christians. Instead of focusing on getting even, I could give mercy.

This was a good thing because I learned later that after provoking previous neighbors he had tried to sue them for their responses.

#3. Loving enemies is different than nonresistance. I remember that some in the congregation said that if the neighbor wanted a part of the backyard, it should be given to him, under the idea that we are not to resist the evildoer, but yield and even give more than he asks. This didn’t seem right to me. And, of course, in this case he would have asked for the whole property.

So I really began to struggle with these texts. What do they mean in this situation? What I came to over the next few years was a clearer understanding, I believe, of the context of nonresistance – as I said last week. It has to do with enemies who are also authorities.

And so what should guide my behavior in this kind of a situation is simply the command to love and do good and to pray for my neighbor, which I did.

And also, if love is the standard, not nonresistance, then I have a great deal more freedom in how I respond to my neighbor. As long as I also act with love toward him.

#4. God can intervene on our behalf. Romans 12:19 says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” God can and does act for us many times even now, when we refrain from acting ourselves in the flesh to get even.

I believe this happened in this case. First of all the neighbors moved away not long after the tree came down. And then I heard from a former friend of his that he had a stroke that paralyzed one side of his face. And his doctor told him he needed to calm down for his own health’s sake. We found out that he had moved from house to house fixing them up and selling them, and also harassing neighbors wherever he went. We certainly hoped that this would put a stop to it.

A story about Fred

(I have changed some things in this story to hide “Fred’s” identity).

I met Fred in church one day. We hit it off pretty good and he was interested in the Bible and identified himself as a Christian. His was a sad story – mental illness and time in jail.

Later Fred became angry with the church, and he focused his anger on me and one other person in the church. His demeanor changed, like he was a different person. As I understand it, he was off his medications.

Once he came to the door of my house and was pounding on it – obviously angry. I decided to go out and talk with him, but locked the door behind me. He was making various threats. Stacey was inside and she decided it was time to get the police involved. We had talked about this before as an option.

Another time he showed up at church during Sunday school, high, playing with a knife he had brought along in a menacing way. My goal was to get him away from the church, so I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride and talk. And so we did. I drove him far away and then dropped him off near a family member’s home.

#5. Love and harm are not always a contradiction. I believe that what Jesus forbids to us is non-redemptive harm. This has to do with revenge, retribution, pay back or an eye for an eye. It’s ‘non-redemptive’ because it is meant only to hurt and punish.

Redemptive harm, by contrast, has to do with causing harm to the person for their greater good, or at least with their best interests in mind. This could be called tough love. I always use the example of a doctor that amputates a leg to save a life. This is different than someone who just cuts off your leg!

In this case we called the police. My aim was to get him a psychological evaluation and hopefully get him back on his meds. That isn’t what happened – they just held him for 24 hours. But even then, the situation was stopped. And if he had physically assaulted me I would have sought to restrain him, even if it meant causing him pain.

#6. You can trust God with your life. Matthew 10:29-31 says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Based on this, this is what I believe: If I’m walking in God’s way, I’m not going to die unless God allows it. If I have someone with a knife at church or threatening me at home – I know that it’s not up to them if I live or am hurt. It is up to my Father in heaven. This frees you up to say and do what you need to, to address this situation.

#7. Love will never let me kill someone. This was certainly true with Fred or my neighbor. No matter what they did, I would not be able to do this because I am called to love them.

But this is also why I teach that Christians should not participate in war. There are many issues involved in this, of course, but for me only one is decisive. If love means what the Bible says it means – to give good to others, and I am supposed to love everyone including my enemies, then how can I kill someone and still be faithful to Jesus? How can I both destroy someone and love them at the same time? Even if the government tells me to, I have to refuse. Because as Peter said, “we must obey God rather than men” – Acts 5:29.

#8. Always be open to reconciliation. Luke 17:3 says, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” We became good neighbors with the former friend of our hostile neighbors, even though he was there standing by as threats were made against us.

Also, Fred and I did reconcile. His anger subsided and he apologized. I didn’t see him as much, but talked to him from time to time when he stopped by the church. Last I heard he was doing better and I am grateful for that.

Finally, and not connected to these stories – #9. This teaching isn’t just for “enemies.” Several of you mentioned after last week’s message that you weren’t sure who your enemies are today. In general an enemy is anyone who harms you or tries to harm you.

But even beyond this sometimes it is our spouse who does something that hurts us, or a child, or a friend or a church member. But we would not say they are “enemies.” So in some cases it is best to drop the word enemy, but still apply this teaching.

In these situations as well, don’t respond in kind. Always give what is loving and good to the other – whether they deserve it or not.

  • When your  spouse says something hurtful, don’t simply say something hurtful back. Seek to return good. Deal with the issue in a kind way.
  • When your child is misbehaving, don’t discipline them in anger as payback. Give them something good – loving discipline.
  • When someone cuts you off on the road, don’t transform into a vigilante. Return good and be kind.

It’s natural to highlight more dramatic examples when we talk about returning good for evil. But these more common examples may well be harder to live out – day in and day out.

William Higgins

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Dealing with Enemies. Luke 6:27-36. The Sermon on the Plain

Posted in Luke 6, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2010|

[Check out the website – Love your enemy]

Last week we began our series on the Sermon on the Plain, the name for Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6. We looked at the first part of it – the blessings and the woes. In these, Jesus, speaking to his disciples, comforts the afflicted – by giving four blessings to the faithful, and he afflicts the comfortable – by giving four woes to the unfaithful.

This teaching forces each of us to ask:

  • Am I with the ones who are suffering for faithfulness and will be blessed?
  • Or am I with the ones who have compromised their commitment to Jesus in order to gain the world’s favor and will be judged?

Today we move to the second section – focused on dealing with enemies – 6:27-36.

Jesus’ instructions on loving enemies

There are two sets of four commands here:

vs. 27-28 vs. 29-30
1. love your enemies
2. do good to those who hate you
3. bless those who curse you
4. pray for those who abuse you		 1. to one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also
2. and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either
3. give to everyone who demands from you
4. and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back

All of these commands call us to love our enemies. But there are differences between the first four commands and the second four. I want to take just a few moments to flesh this out, because it has a big impact on how you put this into practice in real life.

  • The first four commands instruct us to return good for evil. We respond with love even when someone harms us.
  • The second four instruct us to yield to the enemy. We are to give what is demanded, and more.

These are different instructions.

Let’s take this example – You are being robbed . . ..

1. Under the admonition of the first set of commands you must simply love the robber, do good in return, and pray for him. As long as you return good for evil, you have a great deal of freedom to choose different options. You could refuse to give up anything, you could try to stop or disarm the robber. Or you could call the police, if your goal isn’t just to punish him. As long as you also show love to him, and act with his best interests in mind, not just yours, you’re fine.

2. But under the admonition of the second set of commands you must yield to the robber, give whatever is demanded and more, and never ask for anything back.

Do you see the difference? You can’t apply both sets of instructions to this case at the same time, because they give different answers.

What does this tell us about these two sets of commands? It tells us that they are speaking to different situations. In Scripture the command to yield (from the second set) is given in relation to authorities, for instance the government. And we are taught to submit even if they are an enemy to us (1 Peter 2:18-23; Romans 13).

Also, each situation in the second set is best seen as the action of an authority:

  • An authority figure who slaps to put someone under them in their place. This was a common custom of the day. It’s not a fist fight, it’s a way of pulling rank.
  • A creditor who takes the coat given in pledge for a loan by court authority. It’s not someone just stealing your coat. There is a legal procedure taking place.
  • The last two sayings picture the requisitioning demands of an occupying government, as the Romans did in Jesus’ day. For instance a soldier could come and say, “Your horse is needed by the Emperor” – and take it. When it says in v. 30 – “give to everyone who demands from you,” it’s talking about this, not, for instance, a beggar on the street. (The word “ask,” sometimes translated as “beg” is best translated as “demand” in this context, since you really don’t have a choice.) Also, when it says, “and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back,” it’s talking about this, not ordinary theft. Often items were not given back, even though they were supposed to be given back.

So the second set of commands deals with enemies who are authorities. And we are to yield to them. This is, in my understanding, what biblical nonresistance means. It’s the combination of the command to submit to authorities and to love our enemies. When you put these two together, you get nonresistance.

Now yielding doesn’t exclude other options, for instance fleeing (Matthew 10:23) or appealing to a higher authority for relief (Acts 25:10ff) or standing your ground and taking the consequences. But since Jesus doesn’t talk about these here, I won’t go into them for now.

The first set of commands deals with regular enemies – your neighbors, evildoers, robbers. And we are to love them and return good for evil.

My aim is that next week we will get into some of the practical realities of loving enemies. But my goal today is simply to help us understand what Jesus’ instructions mean here.

Next, Jesus gives us –

A key principle

v. 31 – “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” This is the so-called golden rule, which tells us how to act toward others.

The usual standard that people employ is – how has so and so treated me? And then you respond accordingly. If John does good to me, I’ll do good to him. But if he wrongs me, I’ll get him.

If you put this into a principle it would be the opposite of the golden rule – As others have done to you, do so to them. This is the standard of “an eye for an eye” or to put it positively, “a favor for a favor.” You act towards others based on how they have acted toward you.

But Jesus gives us a different, higher standard. To say it in a slightly different way – treat others based on how you want to be treated. The idea here is that, just as you want what is good, so  give what is good to others. Let this be your standard.

This is the principle behind all eight statements in the first section we looked at. They set aside an eye for an eye and work according to the logic of giving what you want to get. This principle teaches us to love and do good to all, even if they don’t deserve it.

Some provocative questions

In vs. 32-34 Jesus asks three questions that show that the “eye for an eye” standard is not an adequate one.

  • “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”
  • “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”
  • “And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.”

Jesus is saying, everybody loves and does good to those who love and do good to them. This is just an expression of the standard of an eye for an eye, or a favor for a favor. You don’t get any credit or reward for this. Even sinners do this. The term “sinner” is used to speak of people who are acknowledged to have failed to live according to God’s will.

Jesus’ point is that if this is the best you can do, you’re doing nothing more than what sinners do. His challenge is, do you live by a higher standard of conduct than sinners?

After the questions comes –

An exhortation

– to live according to the higher standard that Jesus is teaching. v. 35 – “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return . . ..” Put aside an eye for an eye or a favor for a favor, and simply love and do good to all, no matter how they treat you.

A concrete example here is loaning money to an enemy who is in need (if you can). Jesus indicates that if they are unable to pay it back, we are to forgive the loan.   Love and do good to all, no matter how they treat you.

The result of obedience

v. 35 – “. . . and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” It’s not easy to love enemies, as we’ll talk about next week. But Jesus indicates here that it’s worth it. If living by an eye for an eye brings no reward, as we just saw, loving enemies does bring a reward. Specifically, “your reward will be great.”

And then he goes on to talk about being sons of the Most High. The idea here is that a son acts like their father. And since –

  • God is “kind to the ungrateful and the evil” – v. 35
  • God’s sons should do the same

To be a son of God is not about gender, it is about a certain social or religious status. It is to be an inheritor of your Father’s blessings. And both women and men can act like the Father and thus show that they have the status of inheritors.

But the specific test here is – Do we love our enemies, like our Father does? If we do, we will inherit the blessings of the kingdom.

We end with v. 36, which is the center point of the whole Sermon on the Plain, and sums up this teaching on loving enemies. “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Again, like Father, like son. The Father is merciful to evildoers. And as his children, we are to be merciful as well.

William Higgins

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Blessings and Woes. Luke 6:20-26. The Sermon on the Plain

Posted in Luke 6, tagged , , , , , , , on October 10, 2010|

We are starting a new series today and I’m really excited. We are going to go through what is called ‘the sermon on the plain.’ We all know about the sermon on the mount, found in Matthew 5-7, right? Well this one is much shorter; a kind of miniature sermon on the mount. It is found in Luke 6.

It’s called the ‘sermon on the plain’ because it says in Luke 6:17 that, just before Jesus delivered this teaching, he “came down . . . and stood on a level place” – or as the King James version says, he “stood in the plain . . ..”

In this sermon, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, for it says, in Luke 6:20, “he looked up at his disciples and said . . .” – and then he gave his sermon. This is not just the twelve. There is also the “great crowd of his disciples” as verse 17 says. All of these disciples are the “you” that is addressed throughout the sermon. This shows us that his teaching here is not for the super-spiritual. It is meant for every follower of Jesus – including you and me.

Although this sermon doesn’t cover every area of discipleship, it does lay out nicely some of Jesus’ core concerns that he wants us to focus on.

First we look at –

An overview of the blessings and woes

– in verses 20-26. There are four blessings and four woes in our verses. Up first are the blessings, or beatitudes.

Announcement Who is blessed The blessing
Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

We will look more at the identity of the recipients in a moment, but for now I will just say that, however you want to interpret the beatitudes in Matthew, here in Luke the content of this teaching is fairly easy to understand. We are dealing with literal poverty, hunger, weeping, and rejection. There is no indication that any of this is figurative.

To be blessed means that you are favored by God. And this favored status shows up in what is given: possession of the kingdom, being satisfied, laughing, and having a great reward in heaven.

Now notice the first and fourth beatitudes focus on present blessings, with present tense verbs. The second and third beatitudes focus on future blessings, with future tense verbs. So some of the blessing come now, and some later when the kingdom comes in its fullness.

Now we look at the four woes.

Announcement Who is cursed The curse
But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all people speak well of you for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Notice that these woes exactly parallel the blessings: poor/rich; hungry/full; weep/laugh; and revile you/speak well of you.

In this case, once again, we are dealing with literal riches, food, laughter and social acceptance.

“Woe” is a way of pronouncing God’s curse or judgment on someone. The judgments are: no hope of the kingdom, hunger, weeping, and although the fourth is left unsaid, the opposite of reward is condemnation.

The first woe speaks to something already present. The second and third woes look to the future with future tense verbs. So just as with the blessings, some of the judgment occurs now, and some later, at the final judgment.

When we put all this together we see clearly that the coming of the kingdom brings about –

The great reversal

Jesus talks about this in a number of places, I will just give you one example, that is close to what we have in our verses. Luke 14:11 says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The exalted one and the humble one trade places. Let’s look at this in our verses.

  • In the world those who are rich are on top, and those who are poor are on the bottom. But in the kingdom there will be a reversal.
  • In the world there are those who are well fed and they have all they want, and then there are those who are hungry. But in the kingdom these places will be reversed.
  • In the world those who laugh have an easy life, and then those who weep are without what they need. But in the kingdom there will be a reversal.
  • In the world those who are accepted and well spoken of have a good life, and then there are those who are rejected and spoken evil of, who suffer. But in the kingdom things will be the opposite.

Jesus is clear, the coming of the kingdom turns everything upside down.

Now let’s get more specific and ask –

Who are the recipients of these blessings and woes??

It’s certainly of interest to me and I’m guessing for you as well. Our first clue is something we already saw – 1. Jesus is speaking these words to his disciples. This means that he is not talking about the poor in general. He is saying, “You, my disciples, who hear me, who are poor . . ..”

So the reversal we just looked at applies to disciples:

  • Disciples who are poor, hungry, weeping and rejected are exalted with the coming of the kingdom.
  • And disciples who are rich, well fed, laughing and socially accepted are brought low and judged.

2. The suffering here has to do with faithfulness to Jesus. What I am saying is that the poverty, hunger, weeping, and rejection all come – to use the phrase from the last beatitude – “on account of the Son of Man” – Luke 6:22.

So Jesus is not talking about or advocating here voluntary poverty, or voluntary hunger, or voluntary weeping for that matter. It has to do with how people treat you because of your commitment to Jesus.

Jesus is working here with the common theme of the faithful prophet who suffers, and as well, the unfaithful prophet who has it good in life. And he is laying out the marks of faithful and unfaithful prophets as this is found in the Old Testament.

This comes out at the end of the blessings and at the end of the woes. v. 23 says, “for so their fathers did to the prophets.” v. 26 says, “for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” So Jesus is making a connection between us as his disciples and the prophets of old.

True prophets speak God’s word regardless of the consequences. Thus they are rejected and persecuted. Because of this they are made poor, hungry, and they weep. They are oppressed for their faithfulness.

False prophets, however, say what pleases their audience. Thus they are well spoken of by all. Because of this they have wealth, food and they laugh. They are accepted by those in power and receive the good things of this life.

Jesus is saying, just like it has always been, so it is with his disciples.

So those who are blessed are disciples who have suffered loss for their commitment to Jesus. Those who are cursed are disciples who have compromised to gain the things of this world.

Let’s dig deeper here and make –

Some clarifications

– which I think are important for us to see.

1. You don’t have to be in a continual state of suffering to be blessed. After all, Jesus was well spoken of for a time. This didn’t make him a false prophet. He is referring to the long haul. If you are consistently  faithful to God, these kinds of things will mark your life.

2. You don’t have to have everything that’s on the list in order to be blessed. For any suffering is a mark of faithfulness and brings God’s blessing. To be hated and defamed is enough. We are not penalized simply because those who hate us, in our context, don’t have the power at present to make us poor or hungry. (Although in our society some still get rich and live the high life because they tell people what they want to hear.) But if they do gain this power we must endure it.

3. It’s often ‘the people of God,’ so called, who will do these things to you. It was the people of Israel who oppressed the prophets of old and also Jesus. They didn’t like what they heard – and thought they knew better.

Jesus’ words as encouragement

One of the reasons Jesus gives this teaching is to encourage those who are suffering for him. Think about those who are going through terrible loss all throughout the world for their faith – and the discourage-ment and weariness that this can bring.

Jesus is saying, don’t give up. It won’t always be this way. And he is saying, there will be a day of reckoning for those who do this to his disciples. And he is saying, it will be worth it. The rewards of the kingdom more than outweigh what is lost in this life.

Jesus’ words as challenge

But another reason he gives this teaching is to challenge each one of us. We have to ask ourselves:

  • Am I with the ones who are suffering for faithfulness and will be blessed?
  • Or am I with the ones who have compromised in order to gain the world’s favor and will be judged?

Now granted, we don’t live in a society that really persecutes. There are limits to what can be done, as I said before. But you can be ridiculed, slandered, made an outcast or worse – like lose a job because of your faith.

The question for us in our setting is, when there are negative results that come to us because of our commitment to Jesus – Are we faithful, despite the consequences?

This is the test of whether we are among the company of the true prophets or the false prophets.

William Higgins

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Sexual Purity

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on September 26, 2010|

Let me just begin by saying that sex was God’s idea and it’s a good thing! Sometimes we get the idea that because God has so much to say about wrong sex, that sex itself is bad. Not true!

Take for instance, the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were walking around naked and happy. And that’s the way God set it up. And there is an entire book of the Bible, The Song of Solomon, which celebrates sexual love. And then there is Proverbs 5:18-19. It says to the husband, “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.” Sex is good.

But the fact is that like all the desires of our flesh apart from God, our sexual desire often seeks expression in wrong ways. And so God has to call us to live sexually pure lives.

To be sexually pure means that we set aside our own desires and ideas about sex, or the world’s ideas, and live according to what God says; we choose to live within God’s boundaries for sex.

Jesus teaches us the basic boundary in Mark 10:7-9. He said, “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’ (speaking of sex). So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Sex is for one man and one woman in a committed lifelong marriage.

If this is sexual purity, then we also need to talk about –

Sexual impurity

The Greek word for this is Porneia. It is usually translated as “sexual immorality” or “fornication.” But I want to make clear that it doesn’t just refer to premarital sex, as is sometimes thought, especially when the word fornication is used. It actually means “every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.” It is a word that covers every category of forbidden sexual activity. In some cases the context defines a particular meaning, like adultery or incest. But often it is used generically for all kinds of sexual immorality. I will use this Greek word -Porneia as we go along here today.

Alright, let’s look at some examples of Porneia. You have the handout. We will focus on three of these that are widely accepted in our society.

1. Pre-marital sex. It is wrong to create a one-flesh sexual union with someone who is not your spouse – I Corinthians 6:16. As we just saw this is reserved for marriage – Mark 10:7. Let’s be clear, this is Porneia – I Corinthians 7:2; John 8:41

If you are unmarried, you are to control your sexual desires. Paul says it is God’s will “that each one of you know how to control his/her own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” – I Thessalonians 4:4-5. If you feel you can’t control your desire, the answer is Christian marriage – as he says in I Corinthians 7:2, 9.

2. Adultery – This is, of course, breaking your marriage commitment through sex with someone who isn’t your spouse. The Old and New Testament are clear on this: “You shall not commit adultery” – Exodus 20:14. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery . . ..” – Matthew 15:19.

3. Homosexual practice – or same-sex activity. The Old and New Testament are clear on this as well: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” – Leviticus 18:22. And Romans 1:26-27 applies this to both men and women.

You can look at the rest of the list later. Now there are also –

Other concerns with regard to Porneia

Not just the outward act is wrong, but also entertaining the inward lust for Porneia is forbidden. Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:27-28. So we are talking here about mental fantasies, the use of pornography and so forth – Porneia of the heart.

Now let’s be clear. Everyone has inappropriate sexual thoughts that come to mind from time to time. The point is don’t indulge them by dwelling on them, by feeding them, or by acting on them. In our verses the action is the lingering “look.” Exercise control.

Another concern – beware of stumbling blocks that can lead you to Porneia. Stumbling blocks are people or situations that pressure you or lead you to sin.

Jesus says this about stumbling blocks – “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” – Matthew 5:29. These are serious. We have to get rid of them.

In our case this has to do with putting yourself in situations that tempt you to Porneia. For instance, spending too much time alone in a private place with your date.  It’s like the alcoholic who tries to hang out at a bar, but every time he gives in to his desire to drink. And he can’t understand why. The battle was lost as soon as he entered the bar. The bar was the stumbling block. The victory is won with the choice to get rid of what leads you to sin, because once you expose yourself, you’re too weak to say no to the temptation. This also applies to spending too much time alone with your date.

Another example – hanging out with friends who like to look at internet porn. If you go there, you know what will happen. So make the right choice ahead of time.

A final example – spending too much time with someone of the opposite sex who isn’t your spouse. You’re playing with fire!

Jesus is saying take this seriously! Don’t just get rid of sin. Get rid of what leads you to sin. Even if it is painful, like pulling out your right eye.

A final concern is don’t be a stumbling block to others. This is what Jesus says about the one who causes another to stumble – “ . . . it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” – Mark 9:42. And this certainly applies to sexual sin.

So we need to be careful not to lead others into Porneia. This has to do with the way we dress. We need to heed the scriptural call to dress modestly, both men and women – I Timothy 2:9-10. And this has to do with how we act and talk. Proverbs 2:16 speaks of tempting someone to adultery.

The seriousness of Porneia

In our culture it is no big deal. In fact if you take this seriously you are laughed at. But God has a different point of view!

1. It “defiles” us before God – Mark 7:23. We are made dirty or unclean by it.

2. It brings God’s judgment upon us – I Corinthians 10:8. Paul refers here to Numbers 25 where 23,000 Israelites were killed for their Porneia.

3. It will exclude us from the coming kingdom of God. Paul says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral . . . nor adulterers . . . . will inherit the kingdom of God.” – I Corinthians 6:9-10. And he says the same thing in Galatians 5:19-21.

Because of all this, there are many –

Scriptural calls to refrain from Porneia

  • “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:13.
  • “Flee from sexual immorality. . .. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:18-20.
  • “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity . . ..” – Colossians 3:5.
  • “But sexual immorality and all impurity . . . must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” – Ephesians 5:3.
  • “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality . . ..” – I Thessalonians 4:3.

So these calls comes to us in many different ways, but they all say the same thing – “Christians, no more Porneia!” “Get it out of your lives!” “Flee from it!”

Let’s end by talking about –

The grace of God

Have you failed? Are you sexually impure? You can be cleansed. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Last I checked, “all unrighteousness” includes sexual impurity. Isn’t that amazing! What grace! Our sins can be forgiven.

But not only that, you can be set free. John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” I am not saying it will be easy. But Jesus can set you free and give you the power to do God’s will.

  • Are you stuck in an adulterous situation?
  • Do you struggle with same-sex desires?
  • Are you engaging in premarital sexual activity?

I’m not here to condemn you. I’m here to invite you to be cleansed of your impurity and to be empowered to live differently, according to God’s will. This is a message of grace and freedom.

And you need to know that other people have been where you are and have found cleansing and help. And you need to know there are people who care about you and can help you in your struggle.

If this is a concern in your life I invite you to pray along with me in your heart . . .

William Higgins

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How to overcome sin: A summary of the five steps

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on March 23, 2010|

[rewritten]

Step #1 – Understanding what God’s will is, acknowledge your weakness to do what God says. To be prepared for testing, learn God’s will and humbly acknowledge your areas of weakness.

Jesus knew God’s will for his life, that he was to die on the cross –  Mark 10:33-34. And Jesus was upfront that this would be hard. He acknowledged that “the flesh is weak” – Mark 14:28.

Step #2 – Remain alert in prayer for times of testing and temptation. We are weak and Satan is out to destroy us. To be prepared we need to be alert and to pray to God to be spared testing.

Jesus was alert and so he prayed  that “the hour might pass from him” – Mark 14:35. He prayed fervently, three times, “remove this cup from me” – Mark 14:36.

Step #3 – In a time of testing – Keep your mind focused on God’s truth. Once you are in a test, Satan works on your mind to make you unsure of God’s truth so that you will rationalize making wrong choices. So you need to stay focused on the Scriptures (reading, quoting, meditating on them) and tell Satan to leave in the name of Jesus

Earlier, when Satan tempted Jesus to take another way than the cross, Jesus spoke out God’s truth and told Satan to leave. As Jesus was arrested he said, “let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”

Step #4 – In a time of testing – Receive strength from the Spirit to do God’s will. Once you are in a test, Satan works on your heart to get you to choose what is wrong; to give in to the desires of your flesh to take the easy way out. Ask God for strength from the Spirit to overcome the desires of your flesh so you can do what is right.

Jesus received strength from the Spirit to pray “not what I will, but what you will” and to go to the cross and die.

Step #5 – Endure the test. Even if you are successful at first, Satan will try to wear you down. So you must keep focused on God’s truth and keep receiving strength from the Spirit until the test is over. No matter how long the test lasts, don’t quit thinking and choosing what it right.

Jesus endured until the end. And he was blessed for his faithfulness. He was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God.

William Higgins

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How to Overcome Sin in our Lives. Step #3: In a time of testing – Keep your mind focused on God’s Truth

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 14, 2010|

[rewritten]

Last week we began looking at five specific steps that we can take to overcome sin in our lives.

The first two steps have to do with getting ready for testing. First, we need to understand what God’s will is, and acknowledge our weakness to do what God says. Second, we need to remain alert in prayer for times of testing and trial. We have to be vigilant and ask God to spare us testing lest we fail him.

In a test –

Satan will attack our thinking

He seeks to deceive and confuse us; to twist up our thinking so that we will fall into sin. As Jesus said, he “has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him” – John 8:44.  Revelation tells us that he is “the deceiver of the whole world” – Revelation 12:9.

He will try anything and everything to make us doubtful about God’s path. He will put thoughts in our head, speak to us through other people, and he will even quote Scripture, in a distorted way, as he did with Jesus in the wilderness – Matthew 4. Whatever it takes.

He wants to get us to think that it’s alright to sin. You know how we often rationalize our wrong choices. We offer up “reasons” to justify why we are doing what it wrong. We might ask, ‘it isn’t really a sin, is it?’ Or we might say, ‘certainly under these circumstances it’s OK.’ Or, ‘so and so does it and they are Christian.’ He will do whatever it takes to get our thinking distorted. He uses the influence of the world to deliver these messages.

It’s a battle that goes on in the mind. And let’s face it, when we are in a test; when we are in a difficult situation that is putting pressure on us – we want to find a way out. Our flesh is weak and this is the kind of thing we do all the time.

Here are some examples of this:

  • Drug/alcohol abuse. You have just had a bad family fight, and you think, ‘It’ll just be this one time to get me through. Then I’ll stop again.’
  • Sexual temptation. You know pornography is wrong but you innocently stumble onto some online. You think, ‘I wasn’t looking for it.’ And then you linger for a while and enter into lust.
  • Anger. You struggle with outbursts that hurt others and damage your relationships and you have committed to stop. But then, you are in a situation where feel someone has really falsely accused you. You think, ‘God will understand. I’m just correcting an injustice. This is different.’ And then you blow up.
  • Gossip. A friend entrusts you with their private information. You know gossip is wrong, but when you are with some other friends and they start to ask you about this person, pushing you for something juicy, you think, ‘The information isn’t really that bad and besides, these people can pray for my friend.’

In each of these cases, we know what is right. But we allow our thinking to become distorted, and in this way we excuse our sinful choices.

Learning from Jesus

Jesus faced this battle of the mind throughout his ministry. Satan sought to get him to put aside God’s will for his life. We learn from Jesus’ responses, how to respond ourselves. Two things stand out:

1. Counter Satan’s deception with the truth. In Matthew 4:4-10 Satan was trying to cause Jesus to stumble away from the path of the cross. For instance, in the third test he basically says, ‘If you worship me, I will give you the power and authority of the nations.’ In other words, you don’t have to die to get it.

Well, each time Satan came at him, Jesus responded, “It is written . . ..” He countered Satan’s suggestion with the truth of the Scriptures; by quoting Scripture.

In the same way, we can quote or read aloud or meditate on Scriptures that pertain to what we are  struggling with. To use our previous examples:

  • Drug/ alcohol abuse – Galatians 5:19-21. It is written about drunkenness, “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” This lays out God’s will in quite black and white terms. It is not God’s will for me to abuse drugs.
  • Sexual temptation – Matthew 5:28. It is written, “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This is not God’s will for me.
  • Anger – James 1:20. It is written, “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.” There is another way than angry outbursts.
  • Gossip – Romans 1:29-32. It is written of those who gossip, “those who practice such things deserve to die.” It is serious and it goes against God’s will.

By repeating the truth of God is this way, we keep our minds thinking God’s thoughts and dispel the deceptions of Satan.

We also learn from Jesus to 2. Tell Satan to stop and go away. In Mark 8:31-33 when Jesus told his disciples that he must die on the cross, Peter came to him and rebuked him, saying that this must never happen. Jesus heard the voice of Satan as Peter spoke to him.

So he rebuked Peter and Satan as well. He said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” – v. 33. He is saying to Satan, “No!” “You are wrong!” And he tells him to “get behind me,” that is, to go away. We also see this in the wilderness testing of Jesus, where he said to Satan, “be gone” – Matthew 4:10.

In the same way, we can also tell Satan to stop and go away when he tries to confuse and deceive us. We have the authority to do this in Jesus. As he said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” We can simply say, “Depart from me in the name of Jesus!”

A note: Often when people talk about speaking to or rebuking Satan, things can get kind of crazy. You often hear Satan ridiculed, made fun of, or put down in various ways. I just want to be clear – we are never to do this. It’s not our place. It is God’s place to do this.

We should learn from Jude 1:9 which says, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (NIV). If Michael is careful how he speaks to Satan, so should we be. The proper response is simply to rebuke Satan. That’s all that’s needed.

I want to continue to illustrate each step that we look at with –

Peter and Jesus

 First we look at Peter’s failure. Peter was not focused on God’s truth. In fact, he didn’t even think that it was God’s will for Jesus to die on the cross. Earlier, when Jesus first told his disciples that he had to die, Peter responded -”Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” – Matthew 16:22. At Jesus’ arrest he still believed this. . Thinking that Jesus was about to start a war, he acted in the flesh to cut off the man’s ear, who had come with those who sought to arrest Jesus – Mark 14:47. He entered the test confused, and so he had no chance. He had already lost the battle of the mind.

 Jesus’ example. Jesus, however, stayed focused on God’s truth. After he prayed three times to see if God would change his mind, and God did not, Jesus went forward to do God’s will.

As the soldiers arrested him he said, “let the Scriptures be fulfilled” – Mark 14:49. And he carried this attitude all the way through to his death on the cross.

Not that he wasn’t tempted further to rationalize a way out:

  • Jesus certainly would have heard the voice of Satan when the Jewish and Roman authorities asked him to defend himself at trial. ‘You don’t have to die! Just say the right words and you can live.’ And he probably could have.
  • And he certainly heard the voice of Satan when he was on the cross and various ones said to him, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” – Mark 15:32. They were mocking him, but what if he had come down? He could show them the truth once for all.

But Jesus didn’t listen to Satan. He didn’t listen to the world. He kept his mind focused on God’s truth and he walked the path of the cross.

Let me end by asking –

Are you focused on God’s truth?

When Satan tries to get you to rationalize choosing to sin:

1. Do you counter with the truth of Scripture? Do you know what the Scriptures say in your area of struggle? When you are in a test do you bring these Scriptures to mind?

2. Do you tell Satan to stop and go away? Do you follow the example of Jesus? And do you stand in the authority of his name to tell Satan to leave?

I encourage you to put this step into practice this week.

William Higgins

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