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I am taking my first vacation since beginning this weekly message in June, 1996. What follows is a reprint of a previous message from a year ago. I will be back next week with something new. Until then, aloha!
(Jeremiah 33:3)
Which is exactly the point.
Take a look at the Hebrew word for "mighty" in this verse, batsar. It actually means "inaccessible" or "isloated". In other words, what only God knows. This is what He wants to give us and our cost for this priceless information is to simply call on Him. To ask (Matthew 7:7).
Of course you have to first of all believe that God's Word can be trusted and that He doesn't make these promises casually. You have to believe that if you ask Him for insight into a certain situation, He will answer you (James 1:5).
Personally, I am surprised that so many people have a problem with this. When I see endless commercials for these so-called "psychic" lines, I become convinced that people are desperate to believe something, anything! They're starving for answers. They'll trust their future to a total stranger. They'll go to palm readers, tarot readers, and astrologers instead of Him who made their hands, planned their future and hung the stars.
Sadly, I think the main reason for this lack of belief in God actually doing anything for them rests uncomfortably on the shoulders of the Church. For years many denominations have purged the Supernatural from their doctrine, as well as the daily lives of their followers, leaving them with a God that just sort of "is". They teach God as unknowable, mysterious, borderline schizophrenic and most of all, very angry. They end up feeling like the Scarecrow approaching the Great and Mighty Oz to ask for a brain. So they turn to a cheap (and very dangerous) counterfeit, the occult.
This has got to a major disappointment to the Father. Here's the most powerful, loving, generous, omniscient Person that ever was or will be offering His help for free and people call up some guy who gets paid by the hour. Sad, very sad. Dumb, very dumb.
So the next time you face any situation that you just don't know the answer to, before you call anyone else, call God. He will answer and show you great and mighty things that you don't know. And one other thing I've learned from experience, He really enjoys blowing your mind when He does it.
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(Acts 16:30)
Last week I received an email from a first time reader that expressed some concern about the "omissions" I made in the invitation to salvation that appears on this page. Among other things, she reminded me that baptism is very important. In her words: It puts us into Christ (from Romans 6:3, loosely).
I would never argue the importance of baptism(s) with anyone. Every born again person should be baptized. If I had no Scripture to back this up other than the fact that Jesus Himself was baptized, that would be good enough for me. Baptism (in water) symbolizes our being buried and resurrected with our Lord and Savior and is a public confirmation of our faith and our desire to begin a new life. Our church does it in the ocean and it is beautiful, moving and decidedly public.
I get concerned, however, when people attempt to make it a requirement for salvation. This takes us very quickly into a salvation by works doctrine, as opposed to salvation by grace through faith. Thus you will never see salvation linked to water baptism (or any other physical act of faith) on this page, even though there are denominations that do preach this (among other things).
Our passage from Acts gives just one of many reasons I believe the way I do. In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas are freed from prison by a miraculous earthquake. The head jailer, thinking these important prisoners have escaped, draws his sword to kill himself. Stepping from the shadows, Paul stops him. The terrified jailer falls at the feet of Paul and Silas, then leads them to safety. He then asks, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" to which they reply, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your whole household." You will notice that there is no mention of baptism at this point. Paul and Silas then went to the man's house and preached the word to everyone there. Then, after washing Paul and Silas' wounds (they had been beaten previous to being put in jail), the jailer and his family were baptized. Whether this was water baptism or baptism of the Holy Spirit it doesn't say.
Probably the best evidence that baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation comes from the mouth of Jesus Christ Himself. In Luke 23, the Lord is about to finish His work here. He is hanging on the Cross between two thieves, one of which begins to blaspheme and mock Him. The other thief, after rebuking his fellow criminal, says to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom." To which Jesus replies, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43)." This is grace. This is Jesus. Here is an unnamed loser literally dying for his sins. This may be the first time he ever even heard of Jesus. He has no opportunity to make am mends or do any works that will guarantee his salvation. Except one. He calls Jesus "Lord". Baptism is not a possibility now. The Romans aren't going to unnail him and let him trot down to the river, even if he promised to come right back. But apparently this man's simple profession of faith was good enough for Jesus. It should be for us. This very happy (and yet unbaptized) man will be waiting for us in heaven, unless Jesus was lying. I think we can rule that one out.
The intimation that we are not in Christ until we have been dipped in H2O implies that Jesus' sacrificial death on the Cross didn't quite get the job done. It makes every altar call not held at waters' edge a deception and a waste of good repentance. No prisoner locked in a cell can ask Jesus into his heart and be saved. No troubled soul can call out to Jesus in the middle of the night and find peace because there's nobody to dunk them and finish the job. What sad theology. What a sad God.
To show you how far this can go, back in the Dark Ages (they were called that for a reason), medicine was more superstition than science. Childbirth was extremely hazardous to both mother and child. One or both had a good chance of dying. Now they couldn't do anything about that, but they sure weren't going to let anybody go to hell simply because they hadn't been baptized! So they invented a sort of syringe (affectionately known as Dr. Squirt) which they could fill with Holy Water and so baptize the unborn baby in the womb, thereby guaranteeing its safe passage into Heaven. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?
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(Psalm 55:22)
Want to stop God from working in your life? It's easy. First, walk in unforgiveness. Second, don't confess your sins, and third, worry. I put unforgiveness first because even if you are not guilty of the other two failings, this one will get you.
Actually, most Christians that I know make a pretty good effort at forgiving others and are also quick to ask for forgiveness. We have discovered through experience that this forgive/repent commandment, while sometimes hard to do, always benefits us in the end. We feel better. But the worry thing is very hard to let go of, and even though we are just as strongly commanded not to worry as we are to forgive and repent, we just keep doing it. In fact, it seems that sometimes we are rather proud of just how worried (burdened) we can be. It means we care. It means we're being responsible and mature. Wrong.
When David penned the verse that opened today's message, he was reliving one of the worst days of his turbulent life. His 24 year old son, Absolom, is leading a rebellion against him and David's trusted friend, Ahithopel, has joined the rebels. This is a very dangerous situation that our favorite redheaded giant killer is facing. As you read through Psalm 55, David's tortured mental state becomes increasingly apparent in every word he uses: enemy, oppression, trouble, terrors of death, fearfulness, horror, fly away, tempest, violence, destruction, deceit, death, hell, wickedness and battle.
Not a pretty picture. But suddenly, about verse 16, David comes to his senses. He remembers that God has rescued him before from troubles just as seemingly inescapable, and He will again. Then, switching momentarily from the first person, he speaks across time directly to us: Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
Notice that this does not say to cast part of your burden on the Lord and put the rest back on your shoulders. He wants it all, but He isn't going to yank it off your back. You have to give it to Him. "Yes, but you don't know how big my burden is." Okay. Is it bigger than having your favorite son and your best friend trying to remove your crown (with your head still in it)? God is not going to stumble under the weight of any of your problems, no matter how heavy they seem to you. He's been working out for a long, long time.
Let me tell you something that really bugs me and I believe perpetuates this unscriptural notion that we are intended to be sort of glorified oxen. It's when I hear Christianspeak like, "God has given me a burden for the poor" or "God put a burden on my heart." I always think to myself, "Really? That's too bad. He took all my burdens." Now I know what these people mean, but it's not a good way to think. This is not just semantics either, because if you think like this, you will be burdened and what was a glorious calling from God will become a chore and a drag.
Still, I can almost hear someone saying, "But Jesus told us to take His yoke upon us. That's a burden." Oh, you think Jesus is a burden? If you read the verse before this He tells us that if we're heavily laden, to come to Him and He'll give us rest, not pile more stuff on our backs (Matthew 11:28). He then goes on to say,"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." In fact, He's saying it's no burden at all. Christ isn't going to weigh us down. He came to lift us up. And whoever heard of an uplifting burden?
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(Isaiah 55:8)
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Now on with this week's message...
Week of 10/5/97
This is probably one of the easiest passages of Scripture to prove true. I'll show you how: Look at your watch and count the seconds until you have another thought that God wouldn't have. You shouldn't have to wait too long. Now moving beyond our thoughts, let's look at our ways. Have you ever done anything differently than God would have done it? If not, then you were born in Nazareth of Galilee 2,000 years ago.
This is no great revelation. Most of us are constantly aware that God is immeasurably superior to us in thought and deed. That's why He's God (and you're not), if you need a reason. While this verse from the prophet Isaiah is certainly true and applicable on this level, it isn't intended as a put-down of Man, but an explanation of how God does business.
Imagine, if you will, having absolute power and absolutely no limits. Your word creates. Your word destroys. You are not bound by time or space; you see the end and the beginning at once. You see every man's heart and know every secret. You have legions of angels awaiting orders, each one endured with enough power to exalt or topple nations and change the course of history. You cannot fail.
Well, you can't imagine, so stop trying. Your imagination itself is too limited to get even an inkling of God's Godness. And that's what I think this verse is really about.
For example, remember the last prayer that God answered for you? Did He do it the way you would have done it? Or did He put just a bit of spin on it and leave you thanking Him and shaking your head at the same time? See, this is the realization that we need to come to: God knows what He's doing. Simple, yes, but often something we have a tough time coming to grips with. We pray, He answers, in His way and His time.
This is not to say that as believers we don't have authority. We do. We have specific areas in which we are to boldly, in Jesus' name, deal with negative circumstances. But if you've been a Christian for longer than five minutes you know that God is still full of surprises. His response to his Son's name is infinite in its variety. How He answers your prayer most likely will be totally different from how He responds to the person sitting next to you. But here's the important thing: He will answer.
Our problem is that we just don't see how He can do it. We look at the situation, the need, the clock and ourselves and think, "There's just no way." It's impossible! (For more on this wrong-headed notion, see last week's message).
Well, God never promised to show us how He was going to do things. He just promised to do them and this is where that much-maligned force "faith" must be applied. We must believe He's working even when we see no evidence of it (at all). He's not going to say, "Uh-oh! Someone's watching! I better look busy!" We don't need to cover for Him when it appears He's inactive. He doesn't need our help in this area. He needs our faith.
So these days I try to see the Big Picture. Every person I meet, every opportunity I encounter has meaning. God is busy. Every obstacle, delay or dead end has significance. Nothing is coincidental. God is busy. He's moving bridges into position in my life that couldn't be erected one second earlier or later. He's been as far as I'll ever go and knows exactly how to get me there in one piece. He's miles ahead of me, clearing a trail that I haven't even stumbled upon yet. God is busy. Things didn't happen to me that I have no knowledge of at all. Things that happened twenty years ago suddenly have relevance. God is busy. No, He doesn't think like me and He sure doesn't act like me. I guess we can all be thankful for that.
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(Isaiah 37:11)
Hezekiah was a pretty good king, considering his predecessors. He wasn't the brightest guy on the planet (Isaiah 40:2) but he did make a point of destroying pagan temples in Judah and getting the people back on track with God. He was trying to do things right. So it must have been a bit of a surprise, when suddenly, fourteen years into his reign, he finds himself confronting an emissary (the Rabshakeh) of the king of Assyria.
This is not a friendly meeting. The Rabshakeh has come to inform Hezekiah that he and his people can either surrender or die. He makes a game of taunting the people of Jerusalem in their own language and warns them not to trust this loser Hezekiah. Not one to be accused of lacking confidence, he even declares that God Himself sent him to destroy Jerusalem.
Hezekiah, though as I said not NASA material, does something smart here. Instead of saying, "Oh yeah? You and what army?" or something like that, keeps his royal mouth shut. After a little ceremonial robe tearing and a quick wardrobe change (sackcloth), he sends Eliakim to talk to Isaiah. Another smart move. Isaiah was about as plugged in as anyone got in those days. Speaking through Isaiah, God makes a promise. He tells them not to be afraid. The blasphemy of the Rabshakeh has been heard and duly noted. The king will be fooled into returning home and will die by the sword (Isaiah 37:6-7).
Still the threats continue unabated. Now Hezekiah receives a letter from the king of Assyria, warning him not to be deceived by God. Jerusalem will fall, count on it. Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? (Isaiah 37:11). What follows is an impressive list of all the other nations that have fallen while trusting their gods to save them. Hezekiah and Jerusalem would be next in line.
So here's the situation: We've got a man besieged by seemingly inescapable problems. Big, real, nasty problems. He also has a promise from God that he will get through this somehow, miraculously if necessary. But he has also heard how many other nations have not made it through. What does he do? Does he stand on God's promise of deliverance or start thinking about the nine fallen cities of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, Telassar, Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah and just surrender while there's still time?
Hezekiah lays the threatening letter before God and says, "Here's what they're saying about You, Lord. But I believe You. Save us!" (Isaiah 37:16-20, basically). When Hezekiah gets up the next morning an Angel of the Lord has left 185,000 dead Assyrians littering the landscape. The king of Assyria runs back to the temple of Nisroch in Ninevah and while praying to this (apparently deaf) god is murdered by his two sons, thus ending what could have been a perfect season with a 9-1 record.
While we are unlikely to find ourselves besieged by Assyrians, we can still apply the lesson Hezekiah learned to our own lives. Let's say you get a doctor's report that isn't good. You're going to die. You open up the Word and, sure enough, there's a promise from God that says you aren't. In fact it says you've already been healed (I Peter 2:24). But at the same time you've heard about other people that believed God would heal them and guess what? They died. Or you'd like to tithe, but you can't afford it. Even though you've got God's promise to more than make it up to you (Malachi 3:10-11), you've heard other people say that they tried it and it didn't work. They just ended up with 10% less money. Why should God come through for you? And shall you be delivered?
Hezekiah had nine good reasons to believe that Jerusalem would be just another speed bump on the Assyrians' road of conquest. Nobody would have blamed him if he had surrendered, the odds were impossible. But he didn't. He believed God. And we all know that God loves impossible odds. 185,000 to One? Piece of cake.
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(Romans 1:7)
This week's Scripture is not one you'll find yourself quoting very often. You won't see it on Christian greeting cards, in the endzone at football games or carried on placards through your town. Nonetheless, it is important because it makes two profound points: 1) God loves us all and 2) He called us to be saints.
I will assume you accept the first point and proceed to the second.
First, let's look at that word saint. With the recent death of Mother Teresa, there has been some commotion in her religion as to whether she should be one or not. There is a waiting period, we're told, to make these things official (I think they vote on it or something). This would be in line with definition number one in my dictionary: Saint. A person officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church and certain other Christian churches as being entitled to public veneration and as being capable of interceding for men on earth; one who has been canonized. This last part does not mean to be fired out of a large gun like a circus clown, but means you get an St. in front of your name. Of course by this time you're usually long dead and the thrill of hearing people call you Saint So and So is probably diminished somewhat.
But this definition persists, though maybe subconsciously, even among Protestants. When we hear the word saint most of us automatically think about those cute little medallions we used to wear, a guy in his underwear shot full of arrows, gazing skyward or some gentle soul with birds sitting all over him. We never think of us. And we should because that's what we are: saints.
The Biblical definition of the word is very simple. Whenever it is used in Scripture it simply means holy people. In the Old Testament it was those that believed in Jehovah, in the New Testament those who added Jesus Christ to their belief in His Father. This definitely qualifies me and hopefully you, too.
Nowhere in Scripture will you see the word saint capitalized, unless it begins a sentence. You will never see it precede anyone's name as a title. Not Abraham, Moses, David, John or even, believe it or not, Peter. You will see it used constantly to refer to believers in general and some specifically, like the newly reborn slaves in Caesar's household (Philippians 4:22). You will also never see anyone appointed to be one, but you will see, as in today's verse, many people called to be saints. Nor will you ever see anyone (except pagans) pray to the dead for intercession (usually followed by exquisite unpleasantness of truly Biblical proportion).
The word saint was never used to distance one believer from another, or to place one above another. That is against the very heart of Christianity. It was a uniting word, like family. It was only used in a divisive sense to separate God's people from unbelievers. You couldn't buy your way in, do-good your way in or get voted in to this group. You could only believe your way in. That is still the only way.
Mother Teresa spent 50 years working with the poorest of the poor, daily seeing sights we would recoil from. She walked (and lived) among the dead and dying, offering tangible help, as well as hope. She did this out of love and devotion, with absolutely no regard for her own wellbeing. Even when most people would have retired from service, she kept going, though seriously ill. Thousands of people will remember her touch on their lives for years to come. But none of that makes this little 4 and a half foot tall ball of fire a saint. That happened the day she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Nobody else can give that to her or take it away from her. But do you really think she cares now whether she achieves "official" sainthood or not? I'll bet it was just fine with her when Jesus called her simply, "Teresa".
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(Luke 24:49)
In the last message we saw how Jesus opened the Disciples eyes to the Scripture and how for the first time they really understood what had happened (Luke 24:44-46). While this was still reverberating in their minds, He next imparted to them what is called The Great Commission: that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). They were to be witnesses for Jesus Christ to all the world.
Bear in mind that these were the same eleven guys who fell apart when Jesus was crucified. The same who doubted the women's account of the empty tomb. The same who as recently as verse 37 thought the risen Savior was a ghost. They are going to go all over the world and spread the Gospel.
Meaning no disrespect to our Lord, but this doesn't seem like much of a plan. These guys haven't been exactly steady in their convictions and now Jesus is going to entrust them with the salvation of the entire human race!?! Well, it would be a pretty risky idea but Jesus didn't stop there. He didn't just tell them to run out and start preaching. He also said: Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
You'll notice if you keep reading that they didn't argue with Him about this (they were probably still in shock). Nobody asked how long they would have to tarry. Not even Peter, and he was certainly no tarrier. No, I think that by now the guys knew that something was up. Everything else had happened just as Jesus had said it would. So they waited. Of course you know what happened next (if you don't, read Acts chapter 2).
But let's just suppose for a moment that the Disciples weren't in a tarrying mood. What if these guys all started talking about what they had already done? They had been with Jesus three years. They worked with Him every day. They had already been sent out by Him before and had healed the sick (most of the time)and cast out demons (usually). Peter even walked on the water, if not as well as Jesus, hey, at least he got up. Plus, they knew the message by heart. They had heard it hundreds of times. They were definitely born again. They were baptised in water. Why wait? What more did they need?
Fortunately for them (and us) they did what Jesus told them to do and received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Because of this obedience the Church was birthed. It woudn't have happened otherwise. They needed more power and ability than they possessed naturally. Now they could go out to the world with the very power of Christ and really get business done in His name. They would heal the sick, sometimes with just the passing of their shadows. They would cast out demons simply and quickly with a word. They would write words we still read and base our Faith on. They would turn the very world upside down. And when the time came to face torture and death for their crime of faith, this previously shakey bunch of doubters and cowards would do so fearlessly, astounding and shaming even those who killed them.
I wonder how many ministries have failed in our day because they assumed that they had all of God that they needed. How many that haven't failed could use some of this Power, the same Power that enabled the Disciples to do more than humanly possible? Why do so many sincere believers argue about it, theorize over it, and even reject it as outdated or redundant? Are we there yet? It looks like the Church needs this Power as much as ever. Anyway, why reject a Promise that Jesus died to give us? I guess that's the real question, isn't it?
Ever been accused of being too much like Jesus? Me neither.
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I sometimes wonder how Jesus dealt with the realization that almost nobody ever understood what He was saying. Even when He put His message in simple parables that dealt with everyday rural life, the majority of His listeners had this life-changing truth whistle right past their heads. Of course He did expect this and even quoted Isaiah's prophecy (Luke 8:10) to show that this would be the case. But it still must have been disappointing. Jesus was a people person and the people just didn't get it. Even His own disciples needed to have these simple messages explained over and over and even then one get's the feeling they still didn't quite grasp what He was telling them.
This becomes glaringly obvious at the Crucifixion. Although Jesus was constantly telling His disciples that He was going to be arrested, executed and would rise from the dead they still couldn't comprehend it. So when it happened they were totally distraught and confused. Where was the kingdom they had been imagining, the kingdom they would also rule in? How could this happen to Jesus if He was really the Messiah? This three years' service had been for nothing. All they could do was to go back to fishing and try to get on with their lives.
Were they in for a surprise or what? Jesus, the original Promise Keeper, kept His and left the tomb forever. Even though reliable sources (Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the rest) had reported the tomb empty, the disciples figured this was just some foolish women talking. Peter had the sense to check the story out, but he doesn't seem to have made the resurrection connection. Only when Jesus materialized in their midst did they believe. Of course He first had to convince the petrified eleven He wasn't a spook by showing them His hands and feet and eating some of their grilled fish. Then (do you realize how incredibly patient Jesus is?) He explained the Scriptures to them. He went over the whole plan for them and BINGO! They got it. With this new understanding they would start a fire in Jerusalem that would eventually spread around the globe. And nobody's been able to put it out yet.
You and I have this advantage over the Disciples. We know how the story ends. We have the whole Word. They didn't. We can sit down and open up the Old Testament and read the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah and then flip to the New Testament and see it happen. We have concordances, books, tapes, TV ministries and local churches to explain the Word to us. But you know what? We still need Jesus to "open our understanding, that we might comprehend the Scriptures."
You can read the Bible every day, even memorize the whole thing, but it doesn't mean you understand it. We've all seen enough so-called Bible Experts, as well as racists and whackos, misinterpret the Word of God to realize this is true. Jesus saw this in every synagogue He preached in. Men of learning who knew the Law and should have recognized Him, didn't have a clue as to who He was. Too many today still don't. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you when you read the Word. He's very friendly. Just ask for His help in understanding Scripture. It can be truly amazing. You'll be reading a passage you've read hundreds of times before when suddenly you see something new. It just jumps out at you. That's Jesus opening your understanding. I think it's one of the things He really gets a kick out of. That and materializing in a room full of doubting disciples.
The Bible was not intended to be a mystery novel.
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HAVE FAITH IN GOD!
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