Your Tax Dollars at Work

I just came across an article from the Canada Free Press about our First Lady Michelle Obama. You can read it here.

How about a little jail time if you refuse to buy health insurance? Here we go!

 

Who’s the Man?

Last week we looked at the confusion in the church over the day of the Lord. False teaching had shaken what the Thessalonians knew to be true. This false teaching led to confusion which led to the deception that the day of the Lord had already occurred. Paul now reveals the source of this false teaching and deception.

Grab your bible and read 2 Thes. 2:1-5. You can listen to the accompanying podcast here.

The first thing we notice from this passage is that the day of the Lord has not yet come. Paul says, “Let no one in any way deceive you.” Remember the deception came as a result of the false teaching that lead the Thessalonians to be confused about the day of the Lord. The best way to combat deception is to know the truth. In order to know the truth, you need to get in the Word of God.

There are prerequisites for the day of the Lord to arrive. Paul tells us in v. 3: “For it [the day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first.” Apostasy means a defection or revolt, it is a falling away. You might ask a falling away from what? It is difficult to determine exactly what Paul is talking about because the word is only used here and in Acts 21:21 that refers to the Jews forsaking the Law of Moses. 1 Tim. 4:1-3 gives us an example of what apostasy might look like. Some would fall away from the belief of the truths of the Gospel. It does not mean that as individuals, they would have been true Christians; but that there would be a departure from the great doctrines that make up the Christian faith. Paul tells Timothy this is going to happen by, “Deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” and it’s going to happen in the last days. There’s that word deception again. People pay attention to deceitful spirits rather than the Spirit of God. The meaning of the word apostasy gives us the idea that it is a general falling away from sound biblical doctrine. The idea of apostasy is nothing new and is recorded in numerous places in Scripture. In Gal. 1:6, Paul told them, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” The Judaizers taught that one was saved by grace, but must also keep the Law. Jude warned in v. 4 that “Certain persons have crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Look at 1 Tim. 6:3-5. Paul speaks about people that have a, “Morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words.” People who spend an inordinate amount of time debating issues that are of no consequence in the Kingdom of God.

1 John 2:18, “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.” There are many who have the characteristics or qualities which was predicted that antichrist would have. There are many who deny that Jesus is the Messiah, or who deny that he has come in the flesh. 2 John 1:7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

The deception is that the day of the Lord had come was brought about by the man of lawlessness. “The apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” Who is this man?  He is not named, but we are given four character traits that he has. He is the man of lawlessness. He is a man of eminent wickedness.     He is distinguished for his depravity. He is uncompromisingly hostile to the rule of law whether it is God’s Law or man’s law. He is the man of sin.

He is the son of destruction. KJV translates destruction as perdition. Only one other time is someone referred to as the son of destruction and that is Judas Iscariot in John 17:12. His destiny is ruin.

He is the enemy. According to v. 4 he, “Opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship.” This is a two part statement. He opposes every so called god and he exalts himself above every so called god. He is arrogant and conceited. He is full of pride.

He is the blasphemer. “He takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Doesn’t this sound like the one that was quoted as saying, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isaiah 14:13-14) He displays himself as God demanding all to worship him. Attempting to be God is never good.

Look at Paul’s rebuke to the church in v. 5. We are challenged on a daily basis to remember and we don’t seem to have a problem in many cases. We remember to go to work. We remember the schedules of the teams we follow. We remember every little thing our spouse did for the last 20 years. But there are things we have a hard time remembering. Take out the garbage. Birthdays and anniversaries. Speed limits. There are several places in Scripture where we are encouraged and challenged to remember. Luke 17:32 says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” In John 15:20 Jesus said, “Remember the word that I said to you.” Heb. 13:7, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” Paul asks the rhetorical question, “Don’t you remember that when I was there with you, I told you these things?” Clearly Paul is referring to the coming of the Lord, but all we have is what is recorded in Scripture.  We don’t know the extent of what he taught when he was in Thessalonica, but there must be more than what we have here and in his first letter. The Thessalonians did not remember the things Paul taught and as a result, they were confused and deceived.

How well do you remember the things of Scripture? How about the teaching in Sunday School or from the pulpit? What you do not use, you will lose. That’s the challenge.

Wordless Wednesday

Confusion in the Church

Last week we looked into Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians. He prayed that they would be found worthy of the calling of God, that they would fulfill God’s goodness with faith. He prayed that Jesus would be glorified in them and them in Jesus.

Today, we’ll see that Paul shifts gears to address Christ’s coming.

I hope you’ll take the time to read 2 Thes. 2:1-3a. You can listen to the accompanying podcast here.

The first thing that we see is the false teaching. Paul taught very clearly in his first letter to the Thessalonians about the coming of the Lord. Remember in 1 Thes. 4 there was confusion about people of the church that had died or those that were asleep. Paul took the time to clear that up by describing what was to happen. I encourage you to go back and read 1 Thes. 4:13-18 so that you have a good context for what Paul addresses. Paul’s teaching is pretty clear.

So what are these verses in 2 Thes. talking about? Paul makes it clear in v. 1. It is the coming of the Lord and our gathering together to Him. So what is the coming and what is the gathering? As we have said before , we need a proper understanding of this so we won’t be confused. The second coming of Jesus has been a hot topic for years. If you Google it, you’ll get almost 3 million hits. The book Left Behind was written in 1995 and that sparked renewed interest in  prophecy. A new book in the series was released every year with the last one being the Glorious Appearing. The books in the series have sold over 60 million copies.

So what’s all the fuss about? Paul was concerned enough about the confusion in the church to address it in this letter. Here’s Paul’s teaching. Coming is from the Greek word parousia that emphasizes both the coming and the presence of the Lord. Gathering together is from the word that means a complete collection. So is this verse talking about two different events; the coming and the gathering, or is it two different descriptions of the same event? We don’t know for sure. All we know is that Paul talked about the coming and the gathering together then he talks about the day of the Lord. With the teaching in 1 Thessalonians and the teaching here, all we know is that there was confusion about this event.

Why was there confusion in the church? Look at v. 2. Apparently there was some letter or some piece of information that caused problems that was attributed to Paul. It caused problems for them because of what Paul taught in 1 Thes. 4 particularly 4:15. Somebody was teaching that the day of the Lord had come. There are some great word pictures in this verse. Paul tells them, “don’t be quickly shaken from your composure.” Shaken comes from the word that is used to describe ships that are ripped from their mooring lines due to the pressure of a storm. Composure means the mind. Disturbed indicates they were in a state of anxiety or nervousness. They were freaking out – think September 11, 2001. We were ripped from our thinking that America was untouchable to an act of terrorism that great. We didn’t know what would happen next and America was freaking out.

What were the Thessalonians freaking out about? They were freaked out because of a “spirit or letter or message” that was in direct conflict with what they had previously been taught. Paul said don’t let anyone tell you differently that the day of the Lord has come. If anyone makes this claim, ignore it, don’t be concerned about it, you know the truth. It doesn’t matter how you get the word, if it’s different, don’t listen to it.

False teaching leads to confusion which leads to deception. Paul says, “Let no one in any way deceive you.” This is a pretty clear command. Paul is talking specifically about the day of the Lord, but the instruction has a broad application. Deception is widespread in Christianity today. The greatest deception, in my opinion is easy salvation. All you have to do is make a simple profession of faith. Whether or not that profession of faith produces anything Christ-like is irrelevant and judgmental. The church has lost her influence in the world not because Jesus isn’t who He said He was, but because we have people claiming to be followers of Christ who have no desire to be Christ-like. John says it pretty clearly in 1 John 4:5, “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.” We’ve got people in the church that pay more attention to celebrities than they do their pastors. We’ve got more people that follow their feelings rather than the Word of God. Matthew Henry said, “Errors in the mind tend greatly to weaken our faith, and cause us trouble; and such as are weak in faith and of troubled minds are oftentimes apt to be deceived, and fall a prey to seducers.”

Deception is easy to combat if you can recognize it. Think 2 Timothy 2:15. It’s not good enough to have studied (past tense). This is supposed to be happening right now, not something you used to do, studying God’s word is what we are to be doing. This really shouldn’t catch us by surprise because Paul told Timothy, , “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4) In other words, people will ignore good, biblical teaching in favor of teaching that makes them feel good. People will find teachers that line up with their lifestyle. Teaching that says, you’re okay and God loves you just the way you are. Teaching that ignores or reclassifies sin.

One other passage. Referring to rebels Isaiah 30:10-11 says: “Who say to the seers, ‘You must not see visions’; and to the prophets, ‘You must not prophesy to us what is right, speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions. ‘Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’” I think that’s pretty accurate for today. And finally, Paul says in Galatians 1:9, “As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

False teaching, confusion, and deception. This is a recipe for disaster in the church. What can we do to stop it? We can, “Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” (Jude 3) We can, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” (2 Tim. 4:2) We must, “Hold[ing] fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” (Tit. 1:9) As for me, I will “speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.” (Tit. 2:1)

Universal Healthcare and Other News

I’ve been following the great health care debate since it started. I encourage you to read this excellent article. There’s also a move afoot to eliminate provisions for government funded abortions. Speaker Pelosi is not happy about that. Read about it here. It’s not a secret that President Obama has maintained  his position that a women should have “reproductive freedom” which is a fancy term for abortion. So naturally, any health care bill that comes out of Congress must include abortion. Oh, you don’t want health care? Too bad. Get it or face the consequences. Good-bye small business.

In other news, the Congress included provisions for the Hate Crimes bill in the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill effectively tying the hands of conservative lawmakers. I think this is a gutless move on their part to provide “special” rights to a small segment of society. Now a different small segment of society (Christians) have fewer rights. The wording in the Bill is extraordinarily vague and can be interpreted pretty much however anyone wants. Well it’s a good thing our 2010 budget at the church hasn’t been approved yet. We’ll go ahead and add that Pastor’s Bail Fund line item.

Wordless Wednesday

Interesting

Here is an interesting article that basically asks the what if question. I think it’s really plain to see that the White House does in fact, control the media.

Paul’s Prayer for Glory

Last week we looked at biblical persecution and suffering and discovered that in context, Paul spoke of suffering because of a stand or position for Christ. We learned that one reason for suffering is for God to determine if we are worthy of the Kingdom. Suffering also produces endurance which is proof of our salvation.

We saw that God will take care of those that do suffer for His sake and we saw that God will also take care of those that persecute.

I hope you’ll take your Bible and read 2 Thes. 1:11-12. You can listen to the accompanying podcast here.

The first thing I want to look at is Paul’s prayer. Paul spent a significant amount of time in prayer. He not only taught the Thessalonians and spent time with them, he used the one tool each of us possess to affect change. Paul prayed for them. The Thessalonians were continuously on his mind and on the minds of his companions. It is no wonder that Paul prays always for them. Remember in 1 Thes. 5:17 Paul instructed them to, “Pray without ceasing.” Paul practiced what he preached.

We know Paul is a prayer warrior, but what did he pray?  It’s a two part prayer. The first thing Paul prays is, “That our God will count you worthy of your calling.” Paul knows what is happening to them and it’s interesting to note that no where here is a request for God to take away their situation. Paul has experienced persecution and suffering first hand.  Remember he was run out of Thessalonica by the religious crowd of the day. To get some more insight into Paul’s personal persecution, read 2 Cor. 11:23-29. Paul knew persecution and suffering and his prayer was that the Thessalonians would be counted worthy.

The second thing Paul prays is that God will, “fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.” Notice who Paul asks to make it happen. It is God’s desire for goodness or God’s purpose and our work of faith. We are supposed to work by faith to achieve what God desires. We often confuse our desires with God’s desires. I think this confusion results from our ignorance of God’s character. We wrongly conclude that God wants us happy not holy. We live for the moment rather than for eternity. We emphasize God’s love over His judgment. We think our plans are more important than God’s plans. God has great plans in store for us, but I wonder how often do we get in the way of what He desires? Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare [which means completeness] and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

It is God’s goodness and our faith. Our faith that is infused by God’s power. Power that is inherent simply because it is God’s. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Now I understand faith is a hard thing, but it seems it’s only hard when talking about God. We have faith in our government even though I would classify it as a mess. We have faith in our friends even though they repeatedly let us down. Remember Charlie Brown? He faith that Lucy wouldn’t pull the football out, but she did every time.

We have faith in everything except:

• The One that will never fail us.
• The One that cares for us more than anyone.
• The One that created the heavens and the earth.
• The One that created us in His own image.
• The One that breathed life in us.
• The One that loved us so much He was willing to send His only Son to die for us.
• The One who cares so much about us that He left the Holy Spirit to live within us and lead us and guide us.
• The One that really wants a relationship with us.

So we have to ask ourselves, why is our faith in God so hard? Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” 1 John 5:4 says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” Overcome here means conquer. Our faith in God has conquered the world. When you look at it in that light, there is no reason to doubt.

The Gospel writer Mark tells us of the father that brought his demon possessed son to Jesus for healing. He complained because the disciples weren’t able to help the boy.  As the father relates this to Jesus, in Mark 9:23 Jesus tells him, “All things are possible to him who believes.” The father responded by saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” Believe and unbelief in these two verses are both forms of the Greek word for faith – pistis. The father was saying, “I believe, but my faith is lacking, Jesus fill in the holes so I can have complete confidence in You.”

James 1:8 tells us that, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” It means one who is wavering. Someone who has no settled principles; who is controlled by passion; who is influenced by popular feeling. He is unstable in all his ways. His prayer life. His personal life. His work life. It is fair to say that life lives him, he doesn’t live life. Maybe that’s where you are. You know what faith is, but are having a hard time applying it to your life and really letting go and trusting God.

If you know the character of God, it’s easier to let go. Was it hard for Abraham when he was told to sacrifice Isaac? Was it hard for Job when he lost everything and had a nagging wife? Was it hard for Moses to go to Pharaoh when all he thought about was his lack of ability? Was it hard for Noah to build a boat when he didn’t know what rain was? Was it hard for Joseph to stay engaged to Mary when he found out she was pregnant?

For most of us, the biggest stretch of faith is trusting that God will provide what we need to live. Look at Matthew 6:25-34. You see, God does have it all worked out, but this is a conditional clause and the “but” is recorded in v. 33. Perhaps we’re struggling because our priority isn’t on seeking God’s kingdom or His righteousness first.

Paul’s provides the goal of his prayer in v. 12. Paul prays that Jesus will be glorified in us and for us to be glorified in Him. But that glorification doesn’t begin with Christ’s return. The glorification process began with our salvation. As we are changed into the image of Christ, Jesus receives glory from what He is doing in us. 2 Cor. 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Transformed literally mean change form.  It’s where we get our English word metamorphosis. Each day, we look more like Christ then we did the day before. It is amazing to look at the beauty that God created, but it’s even more amazing to look at the transformation occurring on a daily basis in those that are called children of God.

Paul’s prayer is that God will count us worthy of the calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power and that God will be glorified in us and us in Him.

Is that happening in your life?

Wordless Wednesday

Why Do Christians Suffer?

Last week we started our journey into Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonica. Paul is thankful that their faith and love are growing more and more.

This church is not stagnant and they demonstrate their faith and love by being examples in Macedonia and Achaia. In fact, they are growing in Christ and are so changed that Paul has bragged on them to other churches that even amid persecution, they are persevering. Today, I hope to answer the age old question of why Christians suffer.

Grab your Bible and read 2 Thes. 1:5-10. You can listen to the accompanying podcast here.

The first thing I want to look at is biblical suffering. Before we get to the why of suffering, we need to understand what Paul is talking about. Is Paul talking about suffering from financial troubles, or sickness, or lay-offs, or even the financial state of America? We often talk about our trials and persecutions, but is this what Paul is talking about?

To fully understand what I’m talking about, we need to understand the meaning of the words Paul talks about. In v. 4, Paul spoke of the persecutions and afflictions the Thessalonians were undergoing. Persecution is a very specific word that means persecution inflicted by an enemy of the Gospel. Afflictions comes from the word that primarily means a pressing or pressure; anything that burdens the spirit.  This refers to something that comes upon someone from an external source. In the case of the Thessalonians, the afflictions could be a direct result of the persecution.

V. 5 definitely relates to v. 4 and really explains what is going on. It is God’s righteous judgment for believers to be considered worthy of His kingdom. God is the One who is in charge of our sanctification, or our refining even though it may come in the form of persecution and suffering. These believers have perseverance and faith even as they endure persecution and suffering. Judgment in this verse can also be translated decision and this verse indicates that God does decide to allow persecution and suffering in our lives. As Christians, we need to be willing to endure the persecution and suffering in order to get the refinement from the Lord that comes with it. Paul says it is a, “Plain indication of God’s righteous judgment.”

So why do Christians suffer? A question of the ages, right? We’ve seen that in the lives of the Thessalonians, it was to determine if they were worthy of God’s kingdom. Do you think it’s any different for us? What is the goal of suffering? What are the benefits? James told us in 1:2-4 to, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Look at 1 Peter 1:6-9. Peter said that trials and pressures and suffering are tests of fire for believers whose faith is proven as a result of those trials. The outcome of that faith is salvation. Endurance is the proof of true salvation.

While you’re in 1 Peter, check out 1 Peter 4:12-19. Peter uses the word test again. Sharing in the sufferings of Christ means believers suffer as a result of their association with Christ; for His name. When people talk about the suffering they are enduring as a Christian typically has nothing to do with the fact that they are a Christian. The tests of suffering are for those things that glorify the Lord, not because of our sin. That’s where we miss the mark. Many of us suffer because of our own poor decisions and disobedience. When we suffer the consequences of sin, the only glory God receives is because He is just and righteous and holy and gracious. So do we sin to bring God glory? Paul said in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” If we suffer because of our own misdeeds, then we suffer because God cannot let sin go unpunished.

Let’s look into biblical justice. For those that are truly suffering because of their faith, God will take care of that.  Back in 2 Thessalonians 1, look at v. 6. It is only just, which can also be translated righteous, for God to bring pressure to those that bring pressure to Christians suffering because of their faith. God is the One that determines what refining needs to be accomplished for us to be considered worthy of the Kingdom. He knew what was going on in the church at Thessalonica and He knows what’s going on in the world today. V. 7 says God will, “give relief to you who are afflicted.” But it won’t happen until, “Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.” Relief comes from the word that means loosen. Think about your hand being in a vise. When the vise is loosened, the pressure is relieved. That’s what Paul is talking about. There will come a time when the pressure will be relieved from those Christians that are suffering for the sake of the Gospel. For some of our Christian brothers and sisters in: Egypt, Sudan, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Pakistan just to name a few, the suffering will not end until Jesus returns.

The Thessalonians endured their suffering well. Remember in v. 4 Paul said he, “Speaks proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.” If you are suffering for Christ, how are you doing? Are you persevering or complaining?

The Thessalonians weren’t the only ones suffering for the cause of Christ. V. 7 says Paul, Luke, Timothy, and Silas were looking for some relief too. Paul told the Philippians that, “It has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” (Phil. 1:29) Jesus said in John 16:33 that believers would have tribulation [affliction] in the world. 2 Tim. 3:12 reminds us that, “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Speaking of Jesus Hebrews 5:8 says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” We need to be ready to suffer persecution

So what are the biblical consequences? What about those that would persecute Christians?  What’s going to happen to them? Read vs. 8-10. Retribution is also translated vengeance. Retribution will be given to, “Those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” Some say “those who do not know God” refers to the heathen Gentiles Paul mentioned in 1 Thes. 4:5 and “those who do not obey the Gospel” refers to the Jews. This distinction probably would have been lost on the Thessalonians. I think it’s more likely that these two phrases simply refer to non-believers in general. Their punishment will be “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” Eternal destruction is bad enough, but these will also endure separation from Jesus Christ. If that’s not bad enough, look at how Paul contrasts what’s in store for believers.  V. 10 says it all, “When He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.” Everyone will marvel. It will be a great day for believers.

Biblical persecution comes as a result of our stand for Christ. It refines us, it gets us ready for His glory. Are you ready?