The Missing Body

Check out the video for this message here.

Last week, Pastor Mark told us Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. Joseph was a secret disciple of Christ and along with Nicodemus who brought about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloth as was the custom. They buried Jesus in an unused tomb. This morning, we look at another incredible story in the life of Jesus.

Take a moment and read John 20:1-10.

We begin with a new chapter. “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.” Mary Magdalene was introduced to us in 19:25 when she was standing at the cross with Jesus’ mother Mary. Before we get to what happened when Mary went to the tomb, we need to look at what’s not here. In order to get a more complete picture, we need to look at the other gospels. Matt. 27:60 says Joseph of Arimathea, “Rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.” Matthew wanted his readers to know how concerned the religious leaders were about the security of the tomb where Jesus was laid.

At this point, it’s important to read Matt. 27:62-66 to find out what’s not there. Mark 16:46-47 says Joseph of Arimathea, “Rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.” Luke is the least detailed among the gospel writers. He simply says Joseph, “Took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.” (Lu. 23:53) When we look at the whole picture, after Jesus was crucified, He was taken down from the cross and His body was wrapped in linen cloths as was the custom for burials. His body was laid in a tomb that was cut from the rock. The tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. Arimathea was in Judea. He was rich and had become a disciple of Christ. He was a dissenting member of the Sanhedrin not wanting to follow their plan because he was looking for the kingdom of God. He was the one that asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. Little else is known of this man.

The physical aspects of the tomb is a topic of some debate. The exact location is also a matter of disagreement. Some say it’s in Galilee as people tended to be buried where they were from. Here’s what I can tell you. Jesus was crucified just outside Jerusalem. Tombs in that day were cut out of the rocks. Bodies were put in the tomb on a bench or other horizontal surface and would lay there about a year. After that year or so, the body would have decayed to the point that there were just bones left. The bones would be collected and placed into a box called an ossuary. The ossuary would then be placed in a niche or on a shelf in the tomb.

It was the first day of the week that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus was laid. Mark 16:1 says, “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, brought spices so that they might come and anoint Him.” Matt. 28:1 says it was, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.” Lu. 24:10 says, “Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them.” What is consistent is that Mary Magdalene was there and whether she intended to anoint Jesus or just visit the tomb is irrelevant to what happened next. The Sabbath was on Saturday and was the last day of the week. Mary arrived at the tomb on Sunday, the first day of the week. She got up early while it was still dark and made the short journey to the tomb where Jesus was laid. When she arrived, she noticed the stone had been taken away. Luke tells us the women went into the tomb and were perplexed when they did not find the body of Jesus. While they were contemplating this, “Two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” (Lu. 24:5-6) They’re listening to the words of these men that appeared out of thin air and they finish by saying the words that were prophesied thousands of years earlier that we shout with joy, “He is not here, but He has risen!” All of Jesus’ teaching, His miracles, His discipleship, His timing, His friendships, His suffering, His pain, and His death have led to this critical moment in history. Notice that John’s time reference is to the first day of the week and not the third day after crucifixion. Of course Jesus’ death was necessary, but it is the resurrection that cements faith. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

Mary gets the word out. I’m not sure how Mary missed this key point of Jesus’ teaching. Look at Lu. 24:6-9. The tomb is empty and they’ve got to tell someone. Mary, “Ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” John paints Mary as confused about the whole scenario. The “they” in the verse has to refer to those that killed Jesus whether it was Romans or Jews. Remember, the Jews thought Jesus was a blasphemer because He said He would rise again after death. They wanted to prevent His followers from taking Jesus’ body and perpetuating that myth. So, when Mary gets there, she’s thinking the Jews have stolen the body and has no idea where they have laid Him down. She does the only thing she knew to do and that’s tell Peter.

“So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.” Luke says the women that found the empty tomb went to tell the apostles, but they thought it was nonsense and wouldn’t believe them. (Lu. 24:10-11) Get this picture in your mind. Mary tells Peter and the other apostles that she and the other women just went to the tomb where Jesus was laid and now the tomb is empty and she thinks the Jews or Romans stole the body. John doesn’t tell us about the two angels that appeared and told the women that Jesus had risen. That should have been the clincher for her to solidify in her mind everything that Jesus taught. After telling them, they have to see for themselves and run to the tomb. As we have established before, the disciple whom Jesus loved refers to John.

Peter and John represent two different personalities. If you remember back to Jo. 13:23-24, Peter asked John to ask Jesus who would betray Him. In Jo. 18:15-16, it was John that gained access to the High Priest and brought Peter with him. It was Peter that cut the ear off of Malchus in the garden. You’ve heard Peter described as impetuous. It means acting without thought or care. We’ll see more contrast between these two in the near future. In a footrace, John wins and arrives at the tomb first. “Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.” He saw what he needed to see from the entrance. Was he afraid to go in because his dead friend and mentor was in there?

Peter finally arrives, “. . . and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.” If the body was stolen, why would the thieves take the time to remove the burial cloths? That would take time and it would be very unpleasant. Aside from the decomposition that would have begun, Jesus’ body was torn apart from the scourging. If it was the Jews that took the body, they’d become unclean, but of course the Romans wouldn’t have cared about that. The body is gone, but the burial cloths remain. Wouldn’t that give credence to the idea of a resurrection? The disciples are having a hard time grasping the concept of a resurrection, but would they really know what that meant? Would the body come back to life including all the wounds on His back and the gash on his side from the spear?

The burial cloths were there, but the face cloth was rolled up and put off to the side. The face cloth has raised many questions over time.    Some refer to the face cloth as the Shroud of Turin. The shroud first came to light in France in the 1350s. French Knight Geoffroi de Charny allegedly presented it to the dean of the church in Lirey, France. No mention is made as to how the knight came in possession of the 14-foot cloth or where it had been for the 13 centuries following Christ’s death. In 1389, the bishop of Troyes, France sent word to Pope Clement VII that an artist had created the shroud and the Pope declared the cloth was not the true burial cloth of Christ. That did not deter the church from putting the shroud on display. Over the next couple hundred years, the cloth was bought, sold, and traded. Scientific studies have been completed over the years analyzing the fabric, the thread, and the stains on the cloth. Is the shroud real? We do know Jesus had a face covering as recorded in Scripture. Even if it’s authentic, does it matter? There is plenty of proof in our world that authenticates the message of Christ which necessarily includes His death, burial, and resurrection without a cloth.

What I do know is that we tend to worship other things than the one true God. When Kari and I went to Israel in 2011, we saw this first hand. They have capitalized on every possible aspect of the Holy Land. From getting “rebaptized” in the Jordan River to visiting the star of Bethlehem, a literal star in the floor where you can put your hand through and touch the rock where Jesus was believed to have been born. You can visit the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. You can walk the Via Dolorosa and the 15 stations of the cross. You can visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus was crucified that includes the last five stations. You can visit many of the sites that we read about in Scripture which should further cement your faith in Christ. The sad fact is that when presented with something you can hold and see with your own eyes, people tend to worship that and not the only One worthy of worship.

Another turning point. Even though John arrived at the empty tomb first, Peter was the one that rushed in. We don’t know the look on Peter’s face, we don’t know if he said anything, but we do know that John, “Then also entered, and he saw and believed.” The question that jumps out is, what did he believe? Believe here is from the same Greek word where we get our English word faith. Some argue that his belief is symbolic of those that believe in Christ, but have not seen His resurrected body. We’ll see that that later in Chapter 20. John has frequently written about those that see, yet do not believe. In 6:30, the people asked for a sign so that they could believe. In 9:35, the blind man that Jesus gave sight to believed, but others did not. In 12:37, people that saw the miracles of Jesus did not believe. But belief without sight was something specially called out by John. He wrote that Jesus praised the royal official whose son was healed and he believed without seeing it. In 20:29, Jesus will specifically bless those that believe yet do not see. So we can’t say for sure exactly what the belief was and the next verse offers nothing to help us, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” They still didn’t understand what was prophesied. Jesus has talked about this a number of times. But they still don’t understand. In their lack of understanding, “The disciples went away again to their own homes.”

What they did when they got home John doesn’t say. Jesus is not where He was laid and they have come to the new realization that the tomb is empty. For Mary, the empty tomb represents bewilderment. For John, the emptiness fills his heart as belief. Next week, we shift back to Mary for a more detailed look at what is happening.

The Humility of Jesus

You can watch the video for this message here.

Last time we were in John, Pastor Mark told us that Jesus declared He was the Light of the world. If you can see Jesus, you can see God. Jesus said He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world, a phrase many misinterpret these days. God provided Jesus with the things that needed to be said to draw people to Him. The words of God that Jesus speaks bring eternal life to those that believe so Jesus will continue to speak to save those into eternal life. This morning, we’re brought into a very intimate and moving time Jesus has with the disciples.

Take the time to read John 13:1-11.

In Chapter 12, Jesus has dealt with His impending glory. In Jo. 12:23 Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” He knows what is going to happen and I believe He is resolved to fulfil God’s plan for humanity. He said in Jo. 12:27, “Now My soul has become troubled, and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” Chapter 13 ushers us into a new segment in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Instead of being with the large crowds, the story shifts to more intimate settings with the disciples. We’ll see a number of encounters Jesus has with individual disciples and we get insight into their character and personalities.

Our time reference takes us just prior to Passover. “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” Jesus knows the time is coming quickly for Him to leave His disciples and return to the Father. I’m reminded of John’s words way back in 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The Passover lamb is about to be sacrificed. His love for people is affirmed: “He loved them to the end.” To the end is better translated as utterly, absolute, or perfectly.

Jesus has known of His unique purpose for many years. Remember when He was left behind in Jerusalem? Joseph and Mary made the habit of traveling to Jerusalem each year for Passover. When Jesus was 12, they mistakenly left Him behind. It took three days to find Jesus and He was in the temple sitting among the teachers listening and asking questions. The grown-ups were, “. . . amazed at His understanding and His answers.” (Lu. 2:47) After a rebuke from Mary, Jesus told her, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” They did not know and Luke says, “They did not understand the statement.” (Lu. 2:50) Jesus knew His purpose and knew what was to happen.

Our passage takes an ominous turn when John writes, “During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him.” We know it’s before Passover, but we don’t know exactly when before Passover. The last time we heard the word devil was back in Chapter 6 when Jesus said He chose the 12 and one of them was a devil. Jesus spoke of Judas Iscariot who was going to betray Him. At this point, we are loosely introduced to how this is going to happen. The devil has placed the notion of betrayal into the heart of Judas Iscariot who is identified as the son of Simon. What is astonishing is that Judas has walked with Jesus for some time now and we have no indication that Judas is treated any differently than the other disciples. There’s no indication that the other disciples knew anything more about Judas and they didn’t treat him differently. Judas represents all that is wrong with humanity. Jesus knew this would happen and yet He treated Judas no differently than He did the other disciples. He knew Judas would rebel against the way, but He still loved Him with a perfect love. Jesus would experience the heart wrenching feel of betrayal at the hand of another yet gave him every opportunity to repent and turn from his wicked ways.

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.” Jesus knew His mission. He knew what must occur to affect redemption for mankind. He knew the timeline as He grew up. We’ve seen in confrontations with the Pharisees that Jesus knew what He was about. In 8:14 Jesus told them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.” Jesus transcends our definition of time and space. Remember, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jo. 1:1) To see Jesus is to see God. “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” (Jo. 5:26-27)

Up to this point, John has portrayed Jesus as God in the flesh, sent from above to carry out the will of God for humanity. The Word that was in the beginning with God, that took part in the creation of the heavens and earth that became flesh, that operates with the authority of God, the One that has the authority to execute judgment is about to do something that will literally knock the socks off of the disciples and also gives insight into another aspect of His nature. Jesus, “got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” Foot washing was needed in those days. The roads were dusty and the people wore sandals. There were no socks or closed footwear. It seems strange to us that you would only wash your feet, but that’s all that was dirty. If you were a guest in someone’s house, it was only fitting that the host would provide a servant to wash his guest’s feet.  In referring to Abigail, 1 Sam. 25:41 says, “She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” In referring to a good widow, 1 Tim. 5:10 says, “Having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she washed the saint’s feet, if she assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.” Foot washing was a task reserved for the lowliest of servants.

Get the picture in your mind. Jesus and His disciples are sharing a meal. In this setting, the people would be reclining with their heads near the table leaning on their left elbow and picking up food with their right. Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his outer robe and picks up a towel and wraps it around His waist. He pours water in a basin and begins washing their feet. We don’t know the order that He did this, but I imagine there was some confusion about what was happening. Remember John the Baptizer didn’t consider himself worthy enough to even touch the leather strap that held Jesus’ sandal. When you’re in the presence of perfection, you can feel a bit inadequate. As Jesus goes about washing their feet, He comes to Peter. I imagine Peter has a look of horror on his face as he looks into the eyes of the King of kings and Lord of lords and says, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” You can hear the confusion in Peter’s voice. “Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” This is not the first time that people have been confused by Jesus’ actions or His words. Back in Chapter 7, the Jews were confused because Jesus said He was going somewhere the Jews would not be able to find Him. In Chapter 8, they were confused when Jesus told them He could make them free. Later in Chapter 8, they were confused when Jesus told them if they kept His word, they’d never see death.

Jesus acknowledges that what He is doing is confusing. It’s hard to understand now, but later they’ll get it. When you don’t have the picture to the puzzle, it’s hard to see the final product. What is ironic is that we have the picture of the puzzle in front of us with all the pieces, but have difficulty fitting them together. We say things like: “I don’t know how we can put it together.” “There are so many pieces.” “It’s too hard.” “It’ll take too long to finish it.” Sometimes we dump out the puzzle pieces and go at it with passion and zeal only to lose steam and give up. Sometimes we just quit because we’re not making the progress we think we should. If we stay at, if we invest the time and energy, if we persevere, we’ll see the completed puzzle and the picture will be completed. It may take years, but if you keep your eyes on the finished puzzle picture, you’ll see it finished.

Peter didn’t think over Jesus’ words. He didn’t ponder them in his heart like Mary did when the angel called her favored one. We don’t see him reflecting on those words. In that brief moment, it seems Peter sums up what many of us feel at times because he didn’t understand. We want to see the finished puzzle, but we lack the faith to see it through. Faith means trusting in God when you don’t know where the path leads. Faith means following the Lord when He doesn’t give you the route you will take. The opening verse of Hebrews sums it up by saying, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 1:1) Peter’s not having it and immediately voices his objection to the whole thing and says, “Never shall You wash my feet!” While the other disciples have got to be thinking the same thing, Peter actually says it. This incredible act of humility has completely undone Peter. Peter did not consider there was something more to what was happening. He thought he understood, but he didn’t. And he lets the Lord know this: never will you do this. Jesus’ response is equally immediate and conclusive when He says, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” This verse has far greater implications than at first reading as we’ll see in just a minute.

So what’s the meaning behind the foot washing?  Jesus give Peter the conditional directive. We experience this all the time. They are known as conditional or if then statements. If you study, then you’ll pass the test. If you clean your room, you can go out and play. The opposite would also be true. If you don’t study, you won’t pass the test. If you don’t clean your room, you can’t go out and play. Jesus give Peter the conditional directive. If you don’t let me do this, you cannot be a part of Me. This is a scenario that has eternal consequences. Jesus is setting up the purpose for what He is doing. “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Peter enthusiastically submits to what Jesus intends to do. To show that he’s all in, he asks Jesus to wash his whole body. But what Peter understands and what Jesus means are different. “Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” Bathed is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense in Greek describes a completed action which produces results that are still in effect all the way up to the present. It carries two ideas: a completed action and continuing results. If you have bathed, the only thing you need to clean is your dirty feet and you can rinse your feet off whenever it is necessary.

Here is the spiritual insight. If you’ve been bathed in the blood of Christ, you are saved. One bathing that has been completed that has continuing results to this day. It is done, but you still need to occasionally wash the dirt from your feet. Jesus is saying that if you are saved, you are clean, but you do need to regularly rinse the sin from your life. 1 Jo. 1:8-9 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is the lesson Jesus is teaching the disciples. He tells them, “You are clean, but not all of you.” It makes sense that Jesus has gone around the room and washed the feet of the 12. Since they’ve all had this done, it would likely be surprising to learn that one of them is not clean. And that’s because, “He knew the one that was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” The one that is not clean is Judas and he has already been identified as the betrayer in v. 2. Judas could have been saved if he responded to the invitation. At this moment in time, Jesus is stating a fact. 11 are saved and one is not. In his omniscience, Jesus knows Judas will not respond to the invitation, but that’s not causative. Remember, foreknowledge is not causative.

There probably is no greater example of Christ’s humility than this story. He took on the form of a servant even though He is a King. There is another school of thought on these verses that provide the lesson that we should be servants and have a spirit of humility, but while I think that is a good lesson, I don’t think that’s John’s intention. Pro. 30:12 says, “There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, yet is not washed from his filthiness.” At his core, John is an evangelist. He consistently shares the truth of who Jesus is with the intention of persuading the reader to make a decision. Have you been bathed in the blood of Christ?

You can watch the message here.

Last week, Pastor Mike told us that there were some men trying to add to the Gospel. There was such dissension between this new idea introduced that the brethren decided clarification from the church in Jerusalem was needed so they sent Paul and Barnabas back to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas take advantage of the opportunity and continue sharing the good news of Gentile conversions as they make their way back to Jerusalem through Phoenicia and Samaria. We left last week with some Pharisees saying that circumcision and observing the Law of Moses was necessary for salvation. This morning, we’ll look at the argument and see the decision made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

Our passage for today comes from Acts 15:6-29. Take the time and read this great passage.

Here’s the argument. For years, civilized society has engaged in debate. There are a number of hot topics in the news today. Gun control in light of school shootings. entitlements. Abortion. Race and religion. Social Justice. The push to remove historic monuments that seem to offend a few. Immigration. Open borders. Sanctuary cities. Debates also find their way into the church. Traditional vs. contemporary worship which I always find amusing given that singing and music are elements of worship. Baptism as a requirement for salvation and then is it by immersion or is sprinkling okay. What translation of the Bible is the approved one. Free will vs. predestination. Chairs vs. pews. Tile vs. carpet. What color a wall will be painted. Obviously, there are matters of preference that really can’t be effectively debated because it’s based on personal opinion.

That’s not quite the issue facing Paul and Barnabas. Some men have come alongside them, not to assist or help, but to challenge them on what they know to be true. I assure you folks, there is room in the church for healthy, honest, soul searching debate on matters of Scripture. Your pastors do not have a corner on the market for understanding the Bible and as we grow, our knowledge and understanding of the Bible grows as well. The same is true for you. Unfortunately, many times in debating topics of Scripture, there is a side that comes to the table without that understanding of Scripture. People that have been in the church a long time want to impart what they believe to be true. Notice I said have been in the church a long time, not necessarily walking with God a long time. So here we have some men that have come against the simplicity of the Gospel. The matter before the apostles and elders is this question: how are gentiles assimilated into the faith community? For the Jewish Christians, they believed that Gentiles should be circumcised and follow Mosaic Law. Any Gentile converting to Judaism was required to follow the Law, that’s the way it’s always been. The first Christian converts were Jews, right? So here we have the dilemma. Should Gentile converts to Christianity submit to Jewish requirements, particularly circumcision? How can Jews and Gentile converts live together in a faith family?

Paul and Barnabas head back to Jerusalem to get the answer to this question. Luke says, “The apostles and elders came together to look into this matter.” Luke leaves out all the specific aspects of the debate but there, “was much debate.” I’m sure that arguments from both sides were taken up. There was point/counter-point. There was passion and I’m sure some elevated speech patterns. Peter, who we have not heard from in a while, stands up and provides the following answer. Look at vs. 7-11.

There are a number of very important aspects of Peter’s answer. First, he shares that he was the one chosen by God to deliver the message of salvation to the Gentiles. Peter mentions, “In the early days.” Remember in Chapter 10 that Peter was sent to Cornelius opening the door to widespread Gentile evangelism. That was about ten years earlier. Every nation is welcome at the foot of the cross. Every tribe, every tongue, every background, every socioeconomic class of people can find forgiveness through the Messiah, through Jesus Christ! In God’s eyes, there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Hearts receive cleansing by faith, not by ceremony. Peter asks the rhetorical question, “Why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” That yoke of bondage, of keeping the law, didn’t work for our forefathers, why do you think it will work now? We couldn’t keep the Law, the people before us couldn’t keep the Law, why do you expect people today to keep the Law? Peter is reminding them of the inadequacy of the Law to affect salvation because no one could keep the Law. Jesus even addressed this in Matt. 11:29-30 when He said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Peter doesn’t hesitate when he says, “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” Grace is unmerited favor. Your Jewish lineage won’t save you. Your ceremony won’t save you. Your Law won’t save you. Remember that Peter is speaking from personal experience. He has tasted the freedom found in Christ. He has been delivered from the bondage of the Law and has been set free by the power of the Holy Spirit to preach a message of redemption to all people. Salvation is by grace through faith! Peter gives the proverbial salvation mic drop. The liveliness of the debate was over and the people sat in stunned silence. At some point when Peter finishes, Paul and Barnabas talk about, “The signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.” The apostolic response is not over. After Peter shared from his personal experience and Paul and Barnabas share, James gets up and says, “Brethren, listen to me.” Referring to this Jerusalem conference in Gal. 1:19, Paul said he saw, “James, the Lord’s brother.” In Gal. 2:9, Paul said that James, Peter, and John were pillars of the church at Jerusalem. It looks like James has taken on the role of the leading elder at Jerusalem.

Look at vs. 14-18. James provides scriptural evidence to support what Paul and Barnabas were teaching. James calls on the prophets Amos and Jeremiah. He shares truths from Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel to help the Jews understand what is happening regarding the Gentiles. Remember, this is all new to them. James has established from Scripture, the handbook for all things in Christianity, that Gentiles and Jews are one in Messiah. Here’s what James says, “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles.” The only restriction to membership was that Gentiles accept Jesus by grace through faith. Of course, that’s the same restriction now. Anticipating some possible push back from the Jews, James issues what has been called apostolic decrees. Since Gentiles were not required to keep the Law as the Jews thought they should, these decrees were designed to allow fellowship between Jews and Gentiles.

There are four decrees in James’ conclusion to the matter: “We write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” Three decrees are ceremonial and are no brainers for a Jew. They were a huge part of their daily lifestyle. Abstain from food offered to idols. Idolatry was absolutely detestable to a Jew and the devout Jew would want to stay far away from this. Abstain from what is strangled.    This referred to any process of killing an animal that did not remove all the blood. Jews could not and would not eat an animal that still contained blood. Abstain from blood. This falls in the same category as the previous one. Don’t consume the blood of any animal. Blood was considered sacred to them. There is one decree left that has to do with the moral code. Abstain from fornication. This is also translated sexual immorality. In a nutshell, any sexual activity outside the confines of biblical marriage is prohibited. The reasons for this are many and if we adhered to this principle, much heartache could be avoided in our lives. As long as Gentiles followed these four decrees, fellowship between them and Jews would be possible. If you’re thinking, hold on, aren’t there many, many more principles to follow? The short answer is yes. The issue being brought to Jerusalem is fellowship. Jews were arguing that they couldn’t have fellowship with Gentiles on the fundamental premise of ritual Law. They weren’t talking about the fundamental principles of holy living which can be assumed based on what we’ve already since throughout Acts. That’s likely why James said this in conclusion: “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

What’s the effect? I love how we conclude this potentially explosive situation. The first part of v. 22 says, “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church.” The conclusion to the issue was satisfactory with everyone involved. I wish that all debates ended this well. The varying positions and opinions were evaluated. A conclusion was made and was agreed upon by the leadership of the church and the church as a whole. Perhaps you’ve seen a church wide debate that didn’t end so well. Lines of division are drawn and no one is willing to see the other side, no one is willing to evaluate the issue based on the illumination of Scripture. Unfortunately, many times in the modern church, the issue is not a matter of Scripture, but a matter of personal preference. Again, too many times, those stronger voices will not stop after a decision has been made by leadership. Some in the church think their voice is the only voice that matters and if things do not go their way, then all hell will break loose in the church. On behalf of all the pastors and leaders at Three Rivers, we will not let unbiblical behavior go unchecked, we will not allow unholy or ungodly attitudes prevail. Yes, we will listen, we will pray, we will search the Scriptures, we will consider varying viewpoints and experience, we will labor over decisions, but we will not compromise on the truth of Scripture. Now, what of matters that we find are not as clear as others. That is where we will wait. If we don’t know or aren’t sure, we will commit to pray. So, here’s what they did. The church chose, “men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas – Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, and they sent this letter by them.” Much like we do when an issue arises, we’ll send an email, put something in the Current, post it on Facebook, or anything to get the word out about a policy implementation or a change to how we have been doing things or what we’ll do from here on out. That’s exactly what the Jerusalem church did with this issue.

The letter they sent is found in vs. 23-29.

An issue was raised by people in the church at Antioch. There was dissention among the people and they decided they needed insight from the church in Jerusalem. The points were argued and after hearing the issue, a decision was made by the leading elder and leading apostle based on the truth of Scripture. A policy letter was sent to the church at Antioch and if the people will follow the apostolic decrees as well as the other Scripture they have available, he says they will do well. What about you? How do you respond when problems arise? Are your problems a scriptural issue or a preference issue? When issues arise, and they will, if you handle them in a biblical manner, following biblical principles of behavior, holiness, and godliness, I assure you, it will be well with you.

The Preparation

You can listen and watch the message here.

Last week, Pastor Zane introduced us to Cornelius. Cornelius was a devout, praying man that had a vision. God told Cornelius to send for Peter who was staying 

with Simon the Tanner in Joppa. The same time Cornelius was having a vision, Peter fell into a trance and was given a vision. They sky opened up to him and it was revealed that what had been unclean and unholy was no longer unclean and unholy. The dietary restrictions had been lifted, but the meaning was far deeper than that. This morning, we’ll see how Peter responds to this incredible revelation.

I hope you grab your Bible and read our text for today found in Acts 10:17-33.

One of the biggest church killers is the phrase, “We’ve never done it that way.” Since the dawn of humanity, people all across the globe have uttered those six words. That phrase has stifled fresh ideas, innovative methods, and new technology along with a host of other things that could impact eternity. While not always, the phrase it typically uttered by people who have been around a while, who feel vested in a church, and who feel a sense of ownership. They’re content with the status quo no matter how out of touch it may be. Early in my vocational ministry, I was being interviewed by a church just like this.          For Peter, this is what is happening. Change has come and he cannot process it.

Luke says, “Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.” (Acts 10:17-18) Remember, Cornelius was told in a vision to send men to Joppa to find Peter. Cornelius briefed his men on why they were going and the importance of the mission. We don’t know much about these three men, but we find them at Simon’s door asking if Peter is there.  Just an interesting note, the phrase, “had been sent” comes from the same root word where we get our word apostle. As the men are asking about Peter, the Spirit reveals to him that three men are looking for him. You might task, why all the vision and dream stuff? In Acts 2:17, Luke quoted the prophet Joel that said, “And that it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Joel 2:28) Remember, the people we’re looking at did not have what you are currently holding in your hands. They were living out the New Testament and relied on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the leading of the Apostles without being able to line it up with Scripture in the manner we can.

Peter is contemplating what this vision could mean when he is interrupted by the Spirit of God telling him to go downstairs and go with the men who are there. Peter was to go, “without misgivings.” That literally means doubting nothing. God even qualifies that by saying, “For I have sent them Myself.” Peter goes downstairs and without introduction says, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” It’s a fair question and one you would ask to any stranger that comes to your door. What can I do for you? What do you want? Can I help you? Now a days, you might not even open the door to someone you don’t know. The men answer Peter by telling him. “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well-spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.” They provide Cornelius’ credentials. By society’s standards, and it seems by God’s standards, Cornelius is someone. Devout. Righteous. He and his family were God-fearing. He was a prayer warrior. He gave alms. He was well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews – he had a good reputation. His private life lined up with his public life. This guy was the complete package. Too often, our life outside of church is markedly different than our life inside. If you’re considered for leadership here at 3RC, don’t be surprised if we ask for references. There are far too many people in  leadership who do not consistently demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit. We’re looking for people that are authentic. We’re looking for people that are growing, but haven’t arrived. We’re looking for people that want to be righteous, not right. People that are prayerful, not powerful. People that are committed, not contentious. Cornelius was that kind of guy.

His men tell Peter of their mission and that confirms what the Spirit had revealed to Peter. Peter is given instructions to go with the men to Cornelius’ house. So here we have an impasse of faith. What do you do with what God clearly tells you to do? In this case we have an angel of God telling Cornelius what to do, the voice of God speaking to Peter in a vision, and the Spirit of God telling Peter what to do. Nothing is left to chance, variables are removed; there are no what ifs or if onlys. Will you walk through the door opened by God? Will you go down the path God illuminates? Will you walk by faith? Would Peter hesitate and if so, why? Peter had a choice. Obedience or disobedience. 2000 years later, we face the same choice each and every day.

We move from we’ve never done it that way, to let’s walk down this new path that we’re not sure where it’ll take us. Peter is beginning to understand the vision because he doesn’t slam the door in the face of the three sent by Cornelius. Peter, “Invited them in and gave them lodging.” That’s pretty funny considering it wasn’t his house. Sure, come on in, we’ve got plenty of room. After a night’s rest, Peter, “Got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.” Peter leaves with the three men sent by Cornelius with some believers from Joppa and they head off to Caesarea. It was a long walk. Caesarea is about 30 miles from Joppa and, “On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called his relatives and close friends.” Get the picture in your mind. Cornelius has a vision to get Peter and then sends men to get Peter. While all that walking is going on, Cornelius begins to gather his family and friends to hear from Peter. He is confident that Peter will come with his men.

Verse 25 says, “When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.” Don’t think too ill of Cornelius. He had been told in a vision to send for Peter. Did Cornelius know exactly who Peter was? Had Peter’s reputation preceded him? Peter quickly corrects Cornelius and says, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” Of course, it’s wrong to worship a man. We would never do that. I find it interesting how star struck we get these days. From athletes to singers; from actors to musicians and even politicians. How many people would stand in line to meet Tua Tagovailoa? That starriness has even crossed into the church. Pastors that you don’t have access to. I have a friend in ministry on staff at a very large church. I asked him of his interaction with the pastor and he told me that he had met him a couple of times. Paul told us in Rom. 12:3 not to think too highly of ourselves. So, Peter walks in and sees the place packed with people. The people are not like Peter or the other apostles. Look at vs. 28-29. Peter’s vision about the sheet is becoming clearer as he remembers God’s words: “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10:15) Peter is standing in the midst of a house full of Gentiles. I came like you asked me to, I didn’t object, so tell me what I’m doing here.

Cornelius gives Peter his message. I don’t get any impatience in Peter’s tone; I don’t think he’s all huffy. Why am I here, Peter asks. Cornelius gives it to him straight. It’s found in vs. 30-33. Cornelius recaps the incredible vision he had. Remember that Cornelius is a God-fearing, devout, giving, praying Gentile of some importance in Caesarea. Peter is all those same things that Cornelius is, but is a Jew. The fuzziness of the vision Peter had about the sheet is becoming clearer and clearer with each passing moment. Peter’s vision involved animals of all kinds: “four footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.” It’s been four days since Cornelius’ vision and it’s the third time we’ve heard about it in these 33 verses in Chapter 10. One of the tools in Bible study is noting repetition. Any time Scripture repeats itself to this extent, we really need to take notice. While the vision is becoming clearer, Peter still does not know the specific reasons behind this visit. However, one thing is crystal clear: God has orchestrated this visit between Cornelius and his family and friends with Peter. Cornelius finishes by saying, “We are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Things are spinning in Peter’s mind. He’s been in front of crowds before so the people staring back at him are no big deal. He’s been in pressure situations before: dragged before the religious leaders of the day, he’s healed the lame, raised the dead, led by the Spirit, heard from God. All in a day in the life of a servant. But this? This is different. He’s in a room full of people that talk differently, look differently, eat differently, have different backgrounds and as he listens to Cornelius’ reasons for bringing him there, the light bulb goes off. You’ll have to wait to find out what happens next.

The Green-Eyed Monster

Last week, Pastor Zane went over the characteristics of the early church. We saw some incredible signs and wonders being accomplished through the apostles. The people had such faith that they would carry the sick into the streets hoping that Peter’s shadow would pass over them which led to others bringing their sick and afflicted to the apostles so that they could be healed and people flocked to get closer. God was using the apostles to do incredible things, and He wants to use us to transform the world. This morning, we’ll see what happens when people in authority get jealous.

I encourage you to take the time and real our passage for today found in Acts 5:17-32.

We start with a very important word: but. Signs and wonders were taking place by the power of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. Sick people were healed; the afflicted were made unafflicted. The popularity of the apostles was growing and as people heard the message of the Gospel, they responded with decisions to follow Christ. The church was growing to the point that the number of people became multitudes, there were too many to count.

And then we see something that can plague any ministry leader. “The high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealously.” And there it is. Jealousy is not always a bad thing. Divine jealousy is a single-minded pursuit of things that are holy. Ex. 20:5 speaks of God as a jealous God in the exclusivity of our worship. 2 Cor. 11:2 refers to jealousy in the exclusivity of the marriage relationship because you need that to make the marriage permanent. Not jealous because your spouse was talking to someone else or because they have a job. It’s jealousy over the importance of the marriage covenant. In modern English, jealousy is defined as a feeling or showing envy of someone or their achievements and advantages. In this context, jealousy is not good. In fact, I think I’ll paint with a broad brush and say that jealousy in ministry is rarely good. When we start looking at what others are doing for the Kingdom, or how many people they have, or how many salvations they experience, it can lead us to feel inadequate or somehow that we’re missing the mark. I’ve been there and it’s not a good place to visit. Your pastors regularly pray for other churches and pastors in our area. We must be Kingdom minded and not inwardly focused and that takes effort.

The high priest and all his associates were jealous of the apostles because of what was going on. They were filled with or consumed by jealousy. So, the high priest orders the apostles taken into custody and they were physically dragged to jail – again. Remember they were thrown in jail in 4:3. The next day, there was an inquisition as to what and why they were doing the things they were doing. Remember after the last encounter with the Council, they were, “commanded not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4:18) Don’t forget the important conclusion from that story: the Sanhedrin that Pastor Mike spoke about: the Pharisees and the Sadducees found no fault in them and let them go – they didn’t do anything illegal, immoral, or unethical. We don’t know the exact time frame between that day and the day we’re talking about now, but it couldn’t be long. The Council was jealous of the success experienced by the apostles. Success is very difficult to define, especially in church. I’ve experienced this myself when I was seeking a job in ministry. Search committees wanted measurable means of success that they determined. The Sadducees were envious that people were responding in droves to the truth that the apostles were teaching and demonstrating in their lives and in the lives of countless individuals that responded to the message.

So, into jail they go with the intention of being tried the following day just like in Chapter 4. The Lord had something else in mind. The Spirit of God is moving mightily and things are happening that are inexplicable – they are by definition miracles: people healed, demons cast out, people selling stuff and giving to those in need. These miracles could only be attributed to the power of God. And He shows up again in the form of the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord, “Opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” This isn’t just a great escape, this is miraculous! They were let out and were told something very specific: “Tell the whole message of life.” Keep doing what you’ve been doing; tell people about the resurrection, tell people about the transforming power of God, tell people how He dragged you from the miry clay, tell people how you’re a new creation, tell people how you’ve been redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Don’t miss this! The apostles, “entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.” No prayer service, no consideration if they should do it again and risk being thrown in jail again – it’s already happened twice, they simply obeyed. The high priest sent his minions to get the apostles out of jail, but those guys find the apostles gone and the jail locked up tight as a drum with the guards in place totally unaware that the prisoners had been set free. The officers report back to the Council and tell them what they found inside the jail – nothing.

“Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.” They didn’t understand how those guys weren’t still locked up. As they’re scratching their heads, someone comes in and says, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” The Sanhedrin are not the kind of people that take too kindly to having their orders ignored. Back to the temple the captain and his officers go to do over what they did yesterday. Remember the captain is second in line after the high priest and is responsible for what happens in and around the temple. If you want something done right, do it yourself, right? Something different happens from the previous day, the captain and officers brought them back to the Council, “without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).” Normally, the punishment for disobedience would be stoning and the captain probably wanted to make that happen, but the apostles were so popular that if they were harmed, the captain and his officers feared retribution from the crowd. Remember the Council was filled with jealously over these men of God.

Here comes the stand-off. The stand-off includes one of the most often misquoted and misused phrases in Scripture. The apostles are brought before the Council again to be questioned by the high priest. The high priest reminds them, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Remember in Peter’s first and second sermons, he placed responsibility for the death of Jesus on those he is standing in front of. Of course, the Council is responsible for Jesus’ death just as we are in the sense that we needed atonement for our sin. The difference is the Council thought their religiosity would save them. Their message was not received by the people. The message of the apostles was received by many people and the Council sought to shut that down once and for all.

After the high priest’s accusation, Peter and the apostles respond by saying, “We must obey God rather than men.” I want to spend some time here to clear up this phrase. I have heard this used as justification for civil disobedience, for not submitting to a husband, for trying to dominate a wife, and for beating children. I’ve heard it used to justify witnessing for Christ on the job and not working. I heard it used as a legalistic proof text for anything and everything church related. What Peter says has nothing to do with any of that. If we are to take 2 Tim. 2:15 to heart, and we should, then we must understand what is happening in the context of the verse you’re looking at. I think we often get interpretation and application mixed up when studying scripture. Just to set the record straight, there are some things in Scripture you can read and understand the meaning in the context in which it was written. But there is great danger in carelessly handling the Word of God. It must be studied with the understanding of the human author, the intended audience, the time in history, the culture at the time, the language, and a host of other important aspects. Wait a minute, you’re thinking, that sounds a lot like work; I thought we’re supposed to sit back and enjoy so great a salvation! Let me put it in perspective. The average American spends just over 8 hours a day at work. That same guy spends almost 9 hours a day in personal care which includes sleeping, 2.5 hours a day in leisure pursuits, and just over an hour eating. The average American spends about 7.5 minutes a day in pursuit of religious activity. Hold on now, I’m not an average American, I am a Christian! How you spend your time reveals your priorities. When Jude says to, “Earnestly contend for the faith” in Jude 3, he means it. I cannot comprehend how people will work so hard at things of this world and casually pursue the things of eternity or perhaps even ignore them all together. If you find yourself without time to study God’s Word, to spend time with God, to pray, to fellowship with believers, to go to church, or to pursue God, you need to reevaluate your time.

“We must obey God rather than men.” Do you think God would tell us to, “Obey your leaders and submit to them,” (Heb. 13:17) yet not really mean it? Do think He would tell us, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God,” (Rom. 13:1) and not really mean every person? If you’re at work and your boss says you cannot witness on the job, consider what he is saying. Are you witnessing when you should be working? Do you have an attitude that you’re going to do whatever you want regardless of the authority? Do you think that God would have you sin no matter what you do? Obey God and sin against the authority. Obey the authority and sin against God. No win situation. If your boss really, really says you cannot mention God or Jesus at all, ever at work, find a different job. There are breaks that legally cannot restrict your conversation, but when your boss expects you to work, then be the very best worker you can be. Be a model employee. If you’re going to use the obey God card, you better know what God says and many, many times, people use that to justify their own desires.

Peter concludes his defense before the Council in vs. 30-32. He reiterates what he said the last time he was before these men. God had given these men the privilege and responsibility to carry the Gospel message to the people. The Council was attempting to stifle the message of hope the apostles carried to the people. What the apostles were doing was not illegal, but teaching about Christ did not line up with the goals of the Council. The message of hope carried people from the burden of religion to the freedom found in Christ.

I do not believe that God will put you in a situation where you must sin to honor Him. Believers absolutely should obey God, but it’s rarely an either-or situation. If you want to use the obedience card, you better play it consistently in every avenue of life. So, what happens next? What will become of the apostles? Will they be able to escape the clutches of the Sanhedrin? We’ll have to wait until next week to see what happens to these heroes of the faith.

Sharing is Caring

You can watch and listen to the message here.

Last week, the disciples were ordered to stop preaching in the name of Jesus and they responded in prayer. They established a pattern for prayer that we should follow in our lives: pray first, pray together, pray with confidence, pray biblically, and pray expectantly. As we continue our journey through Acts, we’ll see how vital prayer is in accomplishing the mission God has set before us. This morning, we’ll see what happens when people are truly transformed by God.

Acts 4:32-35 says, “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”

Let’s be clear on something. The disciples have just prayed and God answered by shaking the place where they were and they were, “filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” This is not a contradiction to 2:4. They were empowered again by the Holy Spirit which leads to v. 32. Luke tells us, “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” The word congregation is better translated multitude. At this point in the young church, there are at least 8120 men. There had to be lots of women and children that aren’t numbered so it’s reasonable to conclude that the number of believers far exceeds 8120. Don’t use this as an excuse to justify the attendance at a particular church as a measure of success. The point Luke is making here is that of those people that made up the assembly that believed in the finished work of Jesus Christ, those that made a profession of faith and lived like Jesus, those people, “Were of one heart and soul.” You’ve heard that phrase heart and soul before. It should be obvious that Luke is not talking about a physical heart or soul, but a spirit of oneness, a spirit of togetherness, a spirit of community. This passage is very similar to 2:42-47, but one theme stands out in this passage compared to the previous passage at the end of chapter 2.

The overarching premise here is that of unity. This spirit of unity led them to do something very contrary to our way of thinking. “And not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.” That doesn’t mean they didn’t own anything themselves. This isn’t some justification for socialism or a misguided notion of fairness. The idea of fairness is running rampant through our society. We think it’s not fair that someone has a better car than we do. It’s not fair that my kid doesn’t get a trophy. It’s not fair that they got promoted and I didn’t. The idea of fairness has spread to the church too. It’s not fair that they get to teach and I don’t. It’s not fair they get to sing and I don’t. Thankfully, we haven’t really experienced those kinds of things at 3RC.

The defining point where selfishness gives way to selflessness is found in that word, “believed.” Jesus always transforms the heart. Show me someone that remains the same after salvation, and I’ll show you someone that is not genuinely saved. Only in the modern church do we deemphasize the power of God and accept simple profession of faith without corresponding transformation. The murderer Saul was radically transformed into the Apostle Paul. The greedy tax collector Zaccheus was transformed to the point that he gave away half his wealth and if he cheated someone he paid back four times the amount. Peter was an uneducated fisherman and forsook all he knew to follow Christ and was transformed into the leader of the Apostles. Don’t tell me that God doesn’t have the power to transform lives today. The same power that transformed those Bible guys, transformed me. Paul told us, “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Eph. 4:22-24)

These believers were so radically transformed, they had all things in common. We tend to think of things as our own. I earned it; it’s my money; it’s my room; it’s my toy; it’s my guitar. This selfish nature is destroyed by Christ. Our attitude should be, what’s mine is yours. If you need it, I have it. “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.” The apostles continued telling people about what they saw after Jesus died. The resurrection of Christ is a pivotal event in the history of the world. I don’t have the time to go through all the reasons why it’s so important, but the short answer is that Jesus’ resurrection confirms the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah and it validates who He said He was.

At this point, Luke focuses on one particular aspect in the life of the new believers and that is sharing. This idea of sharing is nothing new to these people. Luke mentioned the idea of common property in v. 32. This goes back to the ideals of Greek society attributed to Pythagorean and Plato that there is no private ownership of anything. That ideal likely never materialized, but the concept would not be foreign to the people that the Apostles are now teaching. This idea of sharing is more in keeping with the Old Testament promises of God. Deut. 15:4-5 says, “However, there will be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.” These believers were experiencing the power of God and, “abundant grace was upon them all.” Peter referenced the last days in 2:17 and they are experiencing God’s blessing in 4:33, and now they are working toward the ideal that there should be no poor people among them.

Is this an ideal or is it something that can actually be achieved? Again, we can point to society today where we have so called experts saying it’s not fair that executives make so much money. We have government programs for people that fall below a certain income level. We have government grants that are available for some people to go to college. We have Obama phones because everyone needs a cell phone. These are all programs designed to even the playing field of society. But did these first century believers seek to even the playing field? I can answer that with one emphatic word: no.

So how did it work? Look at vs. 34-35. There were believers that had property. They voluntarily and willingly sold property when there was a need. There is no evidence to suggest this was mandatory, but when a need arose, they sacrificed some of what they owned and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles. Before you go and put your house on the market, this is what they used to do. Now if the Lord is leading you to do this, by all means go ahead and do it. In reality, we have to go back to the first century context of what a need is. A need is to require something because it is essential or very important rather than just desirable.

Over the years, I have become very jaded over the subject of needs. The vast majority of people that have come across my path wanting help from the church are not affiliated with any church and are not affiliated with Jesus Christ. Somewhere along the way, the church has become the go to place to make ends meet. From car repairs to cable bills, from rent to utilities, from gas to medical bills, I have seen a lot. Strangers coming to the church expecting to get what they want. They want the church to help them because they think that’s the way it should be. Before you get all judgmental on me and say we should help our folks, most people that come to the church wanting money are not in need; they are in want. I have watched people spend foolishly then come to the church and expect to be bailed out. If you have ever been involved with church finances, you will quickly agree. We will help our members in one way or another. It might be with money, but it also might be with biblical, financial counsel, and accountability. Sometimes we talk about giving up that Starbucks or passing on a new outfit, or you’ll be encouraged to eat at home instead of eating out and then we can give to a good church cause, but these early believers were selling property and land to meet the needs of other believers.

We have such abundance in the church. We fill our homes with stuff and when it overflows, we put stuff in the attic, then is spills into the garage, then we build a shed, and that overflows so we put our stuff in a storage unit. We end up paying money to store stuff we don’t use and likely won’t use. Why? Because we’ve bought into the idea of the American dream. I’ve never heard of the Honduran dream or the Brazilian dream, or the Paraguayan dream. The American Dream was publicly defined in 1931 by historian James Truslow Adams. He coined the phrase in his book, Epic of America. In the book, he says, “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” He goes on to say the American Dream is not, “. . . a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

The America Dream seems contrary to the example of the early church. Maybe you’ll point out that what the early church did was descriptive and not prescriptive. You might say, “We don’t have to sell our houses and land to meet people’s needs,” and I would agree. I think it would be appropriate to look at an Old Testament passage from a book few people have read let alone studied. Take the time to turn to Haggai 1. To quickly set the context, a remnant had returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. There is economic hardship in the land of Judah. Look at the five things Haggai says is going on in vs. 5-6. Even though they’ve planted a bunch of crops, they’re not getting much in the way of harvest. Since the harvest isn’t so good, there’s not much food to satisfy their hunger. There’s not enough to drink to quench their thirst – the word drunk here means satisfy fully. They just can’t keep warm with the clothes they have. For the people that do work, it seems like they just put their money into a pocket full of holes where it disappears. The people have got to be thinking, “How in the world can we afford to rebuild the temple when we can’t even afford to take care of our families?” Many today would ask the same question, “How can I afford to sow into the work of the Lord, when I’m having trouble making ends meet?” I cannot afford to tithe or give.

In v. 7, the Lord says, “Consider your ways.” Haggai doesn’t stop there. Look at vs. 8-11. The real call is to evaluate your priorities. Have you ever thought that perhaps your current economic situation is a result of misplaced priorities? The people of Haggai’s time sure didn’t. They were content to hang out in their paneled houses all the while neglecting God’s house. In other words, they were more concerned about how their own houses looked. Their priorities were messed up. These early believers Luke is talking about are way different than the remnant that returned to Jerusalem. I think it’s fair to ask, is your attitude more like those exiles that returned to Jerusalem or these early believers? The early believers sold their stuff when there was a need and brought the proceeds to the Apostles. In the church today, we operate a little differently. We receive tithes and offerings as a way to support the mission of the church God established in Scripture and to fulfill the vision of your pastors. That financial support typically comes in through giving a portion of the wages people earn through their vocation. The attitude of these first century believers demonstrates an attitude of sharing. We are grateful for all the Lord provides for us at 3RC and I don’t take for granted the blessings He has poured out on me. But sometimes, we focus more on what we don’t have than on what we do have and on what God can do. These believers used what God had blessed them with to meet the needs of others in the church.

What’s mine is yours. If you have a need, we must be willing to see those needs met. There is no reason anyone in the church should walk around naked or hungry, but if you have Netflix and the fastest interned available and can’t pay the electric bill, there’s some issues. As Paul said in Phil. 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Spiritual Persecution

You can listen to the podcast here.

Today we observe the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted church or IDOP. 100 million of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. Why does God allow persecution? Why is the church growing fastest in countries where persecution is most severe?

The book of Acts opens with the very last moments of Christ’s physical presence on earth. Jesus gave His apostles one last instruction to witness to the city of Jerusalem, the area of Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the earth and then Jesus was, “lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9) And so the apostles did just that. The early church was growing by huge numbers. Peter preached his very first message at Pentecost where 3000 souls recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Those 3000 people didn’t know any better and so they began, “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

Over the next couple of chapters in Acts we see something extraordinary take place. Opposition began to grow against this loving bunch of guys that walked and lived by faith in a passionate, authentic way. Peter had just healed the lame man and he, the lame man, and the apostles went together to Herod’s temple and find themselves inundated by the people in the portico of Solomon. Peter gives his second message where 5000 men were saved. The priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees were, “greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 4:2) As a result, these religious leaders toss Peter and his colleagues into jail. They hold a trial and question Peter as to what authority he had to speak of such things. Peter lays it on them by answering the question of the ages by concluding that, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given my men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) The apostles were released with the warning that they would not preach in the name of Jesus again.

A short while later, perhaps the next day or two, we find Peter and the apostles back at the portico of Solomon teaching in the name of Jesus, the very thing they were told not to do. Back to jail they go for the night, but this night would be different. An angel of the Lord opens the gates of the prison and tells them to go back to the temple and teach the whole message of this life. They arrived back at the temple about daybreak and began to teach. That brings us to our passage in Acts 5:27-42. I hope you’ll take the time to read this great passage.

To be sure, biblical persecution results because of our position in Christ. For those of us that follow Jesus, can we expect persecution? 2 Tim. 3:12 says, “Indeed all who desire to live godly will be persecuted.” While we may not suffer the same type of persecution here as in those top 50 countries, I think our persecution may take a different form. Satan is our enemy, our adversary and he knows and understands how things work. Our enemy can use most anything as a trip wire to get our focus away from God. Satan is not so concerned with lost people. He seeks to destroy you, to deceive you, to discourage you. Why? When people watch us, we serve as an example of Jesus Christ in the flesh. We are not Christ, but we have His DNA. While I believe the tortuous persecution will come to these United States, for now religious persecution is not tolerated . . . unless you’re a Christian. The church has taken a defensive position and has fallen back on her heals under cultural screams of intolerance and judgment. In America I believe we are spiritually persecuted. We’re told by society how we’re supposed to act and many Christians have become introverted in their faith. We become unwitting pawns in Satan’s plan.

The enemy of Jesus Christ is real. I think one of the top attacks of the enemy is confusing us with things that aren’t bad in themselves, but they misprioritze life even if for a moment. How does he do this? He attacks us. He is on the offensive. He attacks our marriages, one of the principle foundations of society. He attacks relationships pitting friends against friends. He leads us to think about ourselves rather than others. We are deceived about the truth because we form opinions of  the Bible without ever looking at the Bible. When C4 first started in 2007, our leadership was committed to keeping things simple. Some of us were particularly weary of church busyness so we committed to not have activities and things every day or night of the week. Christians were so busy with church activities that there wasn’t an abundance of time to do actual ministry. Now it seems that we’re too busy for church. We have the freedom to worship the One and only true God and yet we fall in the trap of our enemy. We’ve bought the lie that we can have casual, shallow associations with believers. We’ve bought the lie that we don’t need the fellowship the early believers had. They were together continuously and we find it nearly impossible to spend an hour or two a week with believers.

I think we’re persecuted with the mind games of the devil. At least our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world can see the tools Satan uses against them. Those that oppress and persecute are visible. The enemy can be seen. Christians are fighting among themselves and attacking one another when Satan is the enemy! The world desperately needs to see the power of God that was evident in Peter’s life in us. The world needs to see that we’re confident in Christ, that we’re bold in Christ, and most of all that we’re loving in Christ. After the disciples were flogged in Acts 5:40, we come to vs. 41-42:

“So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

In their time of greatest need, they continued in what they knew; they were not deterred. The time we’re supposed to draw close to Christ, we actually withdraw and blame God for abandoning us in our time of need. The principles of prayer, trust, hope that once grounded us in faith are cast aside and traded for doubt, anxiety, and fear.

These all fall right into our enemy’s plan. Shifting the focus from God to ourselves and we’re lost in a sea of despair with no way out. Will you allow your circumstances to control your faith? Or will you allow the power of Christ to shine in your life regardless of what’s going on? We often ask the question, if faced with adversity, would you deny Christ? That’s a difficult question to answer and probably the wrong one to ask. Maybe a better question is, if faced with life, would you deny Christ? Isn’t that, in essence, what we do when we abandon the fundamental principles of the faith?

Dear Christian

You can listen to the podcast here.

Last week we closed out Peter’s second letter. He challenged us to be on guard so we don’t get carried away by the nonsense of the false teachers and mockers. We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ – it’s not an option. This morning, we shift over to the short letter of Jude. Some have called this brief letter the most neglected in the New Testament with 2 and 3 John being close behind. There is a reason we are following Peter’s letters with Jude.

Jude is sometimes overlooked because it is so short, just 25 verses. It’s found just before Revelation and maybe people come to this letter and see Revelation next to it and simply skip it. Since it’s in the Bible, it stands to reason that God wants us to read it, learn from it, and apply the truths that are found therein. Like Peter, the message of the coming judgment have led many to conclude the letter is intolerant and contrary to the love of God taught extensively throughout the Scriptures. So why does this letter exist? Are there any applications to be made? What truths does it contain that help us glorify Christ? We’ll answer these questions and more as we dig into the epistle of Jude.

Jude 1-2 says, “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

Here’s some history about the human author. Verse 1 indicates the author to be none other than Jude. Who was he? We know a lot about Peter, James and John. We have tons of information about Paul and Timothy. In N.T. writings, no human author seems to be more mysterious than Jude. Little information is found in Scripture so let’s concentrate on what we do know. He calls himself, “A bond servant of Jesus Christ.” This is significant because of what the word means. It comes from the Greek word doulos meaning slave. It means pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something. Slavery played a divisive yet important role in America’s history. This is not the same thing. Jude willingly placed himself under the authority of Jesus Christ.

Jude identified himself as the, “Brother of James.” Jude’s readers must know who James is because no other identifier is used. Who was James? Identifying him is a little tricky because surnames were not prevalent in those days. People were typically identified by their home region, occupation, or whose son they were. Of course the best example is Jesus of Nazareth. Don’t forget Saul of Tarsus. The famous Mary Magdalene from Magdala. Simon bar Jonah – son of John. Remember Alexander the coppersmith that did Paul such harm. So in answering who is James, we need to use the Bible to interpret itself.

I encourage you to study this for yourself and when you do you’ll see James is a fairly common name in Scripture. James is mentioned in numerous places in Acts as a prominent leader of the church in Jerusalem. Paul called him one of the pillars of the church in Galatians. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to James in 1 Cor. 15:7 and according to Matt. 13:55, he was the brother of the Son of the carpenter. Who was the Son of the carpenter? Jesus. So James is the brother of Jesus and Jude is the brother of James so Jude is also the brother of Jesus. So it’s interesting that Jude prefers to call himself a slave of Jesus and brother of James rather than identifying himself as the Lord’s brother. It’s also important to note that even though we know that Jude spent his life with Jesus the Messiah, Mark 3 and John 7:5 says that while Jesus was engaged in His earthly ministry, “Not even His brothers were believing in Him.” So when Jesus was alive, his brothers did not accept Him as Savior. It was at some point after His death that they believed. Jude writes with the authority of being a slave to Christ and a brother to James.

Who does Jude write to? We have seen in other studies where the author writes to a specific people. We studied Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, his letters to the Thessalonians. He also wrote to other local churches. Peter wrote to Christians that were scattered due to severe persecution. Jude doesn’t identify a church, but simply writes to, “Those who are the called, the beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.” We need to break this verse into three parts to see just who Jude writes to because if we miss that, the purpose of the letter is lost. First is, “Those who are the called.” Some have used this phrase to prove that God will only save certain people He predetermined or predestined to save. I would conclude that saying that is a gross mishandling of Scripture. “Called” here is an adjective that describes the pronoun, “those”. Remember back just 6 weeks ago, Peter told us, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  (2 Pet. 3:9) God’s desire is for everyone to respond to the Gospel and choose to accept the forgiveness for sin Christ offered on the cross. That’s His desire, but that’s not what actually happens.

Second is the phrase, “The beloved in God.” While we recognize that God loved the world and gave His Son (Jo. 3:16), this phrase describes, “those who are the called.”  The reason believers are called is because God first loved us. (1 Jo. 4:19) God loves us even if we don’t love Him back.

Finally, Jude writes to those that are, “Kept for Jesus Christ.” Peter said Christians, “Are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet. 1:5) Peter and Jude are conveying the same meaning. Let’s put together who Jude is writing to. Called. Beloved. Kept. This trifecta indicates that Jude is writing to Christians in general – the universal church. He finishes his introduction with another trifecta: “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Don’t overlook this simple greeting. God’s mercy means He doesn’t give us what we deserve – death. Mercy affords us the opportunity to receive salvation through accepting the forgiveness offered by Christ. That leads to peace with God because we have been reconciled through Christ. That reconciliation is manifested by love in the spirit of 1 Jo. 4:7-8 that says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

I’ve set it up this way to ensure you understand this brief letter. The things Jude is getting ready to say are not particular to a local assembly of believers like in other Bible books.  This message is for us and we need to pay close attention in the coming weeks. I guarantee this letter is going to knock your socks off.

Guard and Grow

You can listen to the podcast for this message here.

Last week Peter reminded us of a couple of things that Paul wrote. We are to be, “found at peace in Him, blameless and spotless,” and we are to, “Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” We are diligently pursuing (present tense) a life of holiness because the power of God resides within us giving us not just a desire to be blameless and spotless, but the power to be blameless and spotless. It’s easy to say, but not as easy to do. We’re to be careful of those that twist or distort the Scriptures to make God something He is not. This morning, Peter closes his letter with a very important conclusion that includes one of Peter’s favorite tools . . . a contrast.

2 Peter 3:17-18 says, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

We get to Peter’s conclusion in this first verse. We’ve been on this journey through Peter for a while and it’s interesting that he can package everything up so neatly. He reminds his readers of what they know. They know the second coming of Jesus Christ is still to occur and that should motivate them to live lives that exemplify the power of God. They know that mockers and false teachers are in their midst. These people are intentionally trying to deceive believers and push them off of, “The way of truth” Peter mentioned in 2 Pet. 2:2. Since Peter’s readers know these things, he tells them to, “Be on your guard.” This is a very serious warning. It’s a verb in the imperative mood meaning it is a command. 2 Thes. 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” These are not contradictory verses. This is along the same lines when Jesus said, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:15) If we heed the warnings Peter has given us throughout this letter, we’ll be okay. If you ignore the warnings, trouble will likely come. When you get in your car, you buckle up. It doesn’t guarantee no one will crash into you, but the damage probably won’t be as bad. Peter’s warning is far more serious. If we are not on guard, are not vigilant, are not watchful we’ll be, “Carried away by the error of unprincipled men.” When you think of the phrase carried away, think about being swept down a river. The longer you’re in it, the farther away you get. So how do we be on guard? When we’re in the car, we look ahead. We wear our seat belts, we use our mirrors; we don’t text. In our walk with Christ, we maintain our alert status by keeping up with what the holy prophets and apostles wrote. We keep alert by diligently pursuing our faith. Peter tells us to heed this warning so we won’t, “fall from our own steadfastness.” Remember Peter is combating the notion of the false teachers and mockers who are intentionally deceiving believers by saying that Jesus is not coming back and since He’s not, it doesn’t matter how you live. Peter has consistently argued that how we live does matter. It matters to Christ, it matters to the church, it matters to our community; it matters to our families. It should be difficult to knock us off of our beliefs. When we allow ourselves to be deceived by those unprincipled men, it’s not a testament of how deceptive they are, but of how ungrounded we are.

Now Peter turns from guarding to growing in his last verse. He begins it with a contrast to v. 17. When we heed the warnings, we aren’t going to be carried away by unprincipled men and we aren’t going to fall from our steadfastness. Instead of falling, we’re going to, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We don’t just ward off the onslaught of false teaching and false doctrine out there. In the midst of all that we’re supposed to grow, specifically grow in grace. When we look at the complete letter, Peter opened it by saying that grace was instrumental in our saving faith through the righteousness of God. He prayed that grace would be multiplied in our lives. He said that God’s grace granted us everything we need to live a life of godliness. Grace is the foundation of our lives in Christ, it is given as a gift of God through unmerited favor yet we are commanded to grow in grace. Grace is not static; it is a dynamic force that should be growing from the moment of salvation until the day we die. Peter’s expectation is not just growing in grace, but we grow in knowledge of Jesus. Growing in knowledge is essential for living the Christian life. (2 Pet. 1:5-7) Authenticity as a Christian means we are progressing in the godly virtues Peter says we have and should be increasing. Those virtues indicate our relationship with Christ is fruitful according to 2 Pet. 1:8. Growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ is not an elective of an authentic relationship with Jesus. It’s not an offering on the spiritual buffet that you can pass by because you don’t like it, you don’t think it applies to you, or you have wrongly concluded you’re too busy. It is essential for eternal life and that’s why Peter puts it as a concluding exhortation of the letter.

Peter assumes that we will follow the principles, guidance, and direction provided in the Bible and the end result is, “To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.” Whatever good things happen in our life is because of God. When eternity is impacted because of our life, God gets the glory. When we boldly share the Gospel in love, God gets the glory. When we unashamedly live our life as an example of the power of God in our lives, God gets the glory. When people are drawn to God because of us, God gets the glory. When we choose to allow God to use us in His unfolding plan, He gets the glory.

Paul said we are to, “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10) May our goal be to walk with Christ today and bear fruit that glorifies Him.

Expected Intentionality

You can listen to this message here.

Last week Peter looked to new things. He instructed us to be excited about the coming of the Lord as the heavens and earth will be destroyed by fire allowing God to usher in a new heaven and a new earth. It is a place of righteousness where authentic believers can be wholeheartedly sold out for Jesus without the negative influence of the false teachers and the mocking of the mockers. This morning, Peter draws a conclusion.

2 Pet. 3:14 says, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”

Conclusions are sometimes easy to spot in Scripture. Peter is on his initial approach to land this letter by saying, “Therefore, beloved.” The conclusion is based on what he has said in v. 11–13. The new heavens and the new earth are what we are hastening to. Remember from last week, “looking for and hastening” means an eager anticipation, a hope to move quickly. We eagerly anticipate our new home, but we can’t sit around looking at the sky. We must zealously be about the work of the Lord and that means telling others about the hope we have. We ought to be known for our holy conduct and our godliness. Since we look for these things, God tells us through Peter, “Be diligent.” It means careful and conscientious. Be intentional about what we are doing as it relates to Christ. Paul gave us the mandate that in, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for man.” (Col. 3:23) In context Paul was talking about the relationship between slaves and their masters, but the application for us is still there. Employee/employer. Student/teacher. Child/parent. Athlete/coach. You can make many applications for this, but the truth remains we do things to please the Lord, not other people.

We sometimes forget that God is concerned with what happens in our daily lives. How we react to circumstances reflect the power of the Holy Spirit that we claim has taken residence in our lives. In his book Forgotten God, Frances Chan says on pages 32-33, 

“Rom. 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” According to this verse, if I am a believer, the Spirit of God dwells in me. Paul reiterates that truth in 1 Cor. 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (NIV). Our bodies are the Spirit’s temple. Later we will delve more into what that means for us; but essentially, it’s that the Holy Spirit makes His home in our bodies. We are His place of dwelling. And this is the question I just can’t get around: If it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not? This may be a silly illustration, but if I told you I had an encounter with God where He entered my body and gave me a supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn’t you expect to see an amazing improvement in my jump shot, my defense, and my speed on the court? After all, this is God we’re talking about. And if you saw no change in my athleticism, wouldn’t you question the validity of my “encounter”? Churchgoers all across the nation say the Holy Spirit has entered them. They claim that God has given them a supernatural ability to follow Christ, put their sin to death, and serve the church. Christians talk about being born again and say that they were dead but now have come to life. We have become hardened to those words, but they are powerful words that have significant meaning. Yet when those outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our integrity, our sanity, or even worse, our God. And can you blame them?”

We have bought the lie that profession without transformation is okay. Since someone may claim to be a Christian, that’s seems to be good enough. Even though there may be no evidence of Christ, no fruit, no desire to be like Christ; they’ve said it, so that settles it. I acknowledge that we’re all at different places. Instead of engaging in real discipleship as a matter of pursuing Christ, it seems like it’s not even welcomed in the lives of many professing believers. Everything is cool as long as we agree, but don’t rock the boat. Everything is awesome as long as we don’t have any expectations of anyone. But the second that changes, we’re outta here. We have Christians that are zealously pursuing the American dream of safety and security here; laying up treasures here, participating in activities that have no bearing on eternity because we’ve taken the gift we’ve been given for granted, we’ve taken our destination for granted. Our attitude has become, “Well, I know I’m going there.” Many people in the church have forgotten the important truth Paul gave us in Phil. 3:20, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We’re to be intentional in our walk with Christ. We’re intentional in so many areas of our lives. We make sure to check the tide chart before going fishing. We get our cooler ready for the beach. We lay our kid’s school clothes out the night before. We study all the material so we can pass the test with the best possible grade. Unfortunately, many of us don’t practice that same intentionality with Jesus. We find it difficult to find the time to read our Bible. Since it’s hard to find time to read, we certainly can’t find the time to study it. We’re so busy with our lives during the week, that Sunday has become catch up day. We have become a people with little to no time management skills and misguided prioritization. We have fallen into Satan’s trap with frightening ease.

We’re to, “be diligent.” Diligent means conscientious in one’s work or duties; it means to hurry. People all over are on the grace bus that preaches it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you’ve made a profession. Grace covers it all! NO! Peter says be diligent. What are we to be diligent about? We’re to hurry up; make every effort, “To be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.” Peter already said we’re to be holy and godly in our conduct in v. 11. Keep in mind the false teaching that Peter is refuting. The false teachers denied the second coming of Christ and therefore lived a life of liberty following after their own lusts and sensuality. That liberty presented a huge stumbling block to other believers because they intentionally led others astray from the truth of God’s Word and the Way of Truth through salvation. Peter continues to hammer the coming of Christ in an effort to show his readers that living in a certain manner today is reflective of the glory of God that exists within each authentic believer. This due diligence here hinges on the foundation Peter established in 2 Pet. 1:5-7 where he said, “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.” His incredible conclusion to that is found in v. 10, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.” The key is in the verb tense. Practice is present tense and never stumble is future. It is conditional based on what we do.

Believers are, “To be found in peace, spotless and blameless.” Found is a judicial term that indicates a judgment – we find the defendant not guilty. We see this in other Scripture as well. In 1 Cor. 4:2 Paul says as stewards, we are to found trustworthy. John wept when no one was found worthy to open the book in Rev. 5:4. Peace here means completeness or well being. Don’t miss the significance; the only way to have true peace is to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. When that reconciliation is accomplished, it is not just possible; it is expected for us to be, “blameless and spotless.” This expectation is a contrast to the false teachers that were described in 2 Pet. 2:13 as, “stains and blemishes.” Again, we see this idea throughout Scripture. This doesn’t mean we are morally perfect or sinless. We should be progressing to look and act more and more like Christ because of the work He is doing on our lives. The expectation is that we live lives of holiness and godliness because of God’s influence in our lives. When you put it all together Peter is saying Christians will be found to be at peace with God because we’ve trusted in the finished work of Christ. As a result, we are righteous because He is righteous.

1 Thes. 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”We are at peace because of Christ’s sacrifice and we enter into His presence with joy. This joy in Christ motivates us to share the unfathomable gift of grace through Jesus Christ. Let’s quit talking about it and do it.