In that day!

In our Wednesday evening Bible studies we are just starting a series on the Names of God. A study of this type is not meant to become a series of etymological digressions or a broad excuse of rabbit trails, but it is a powerful study into the character and the vast attributes of our God.

As I was studying for tonight's thought one of the key verses is found in Isaiah 12. The whole chapter is only six verses long and is such a wonderful declaration of God's remembrance and restoration. Of course it is following fast upon the thoughts found in Isaiah 11 where we read.....

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. (Isaiah 11:1-5)

The chapter then goes on to describe a regathering of the people of Israel. Then chapter 12 comes in with a certain optimism. In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. (Isaiah 12:1b)

Then again in verse four,

And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Now I do understand a distinction must be made between Israel of the Old Testament and the church of the New Testament. But there is the matter of Isaiah's prophecy of this "rod" and "Branch" in 11:1. This is Christ. In many ways we see a prophetic glimpse into the coming Savior who would not only offer redemption to Israel, but also to me, a Gentile!

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:2-3)

For us as New Testament believers, that day has already come. I will praise Him! I now say, "Praise the Lord!" For today I can call upon His name and can declare to the world His doings among His people. I am ready and willing to make mention that His name is exalted.

As Peter tells us in his first epistle,

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: (1 Peter 2:9)

As Paul declares in Ephesians,

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:16-18)

We as believers in the promised One of God, the Messiah, the anointed and holy One sent down from the Father should respond with enthusiasm as Isaiah put it in verse five:

Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

Let it be in this day we praise our great God for such a great plan that demonstrated His awesome power and delivered unto us His very presence all granted in the Person of Jesus Christ, the rod, the Branch, the Savior. In this day!

This thing called "Ministry" (Part 6)

For a few posts we have been focusing on what this thing called "ministry" is about. Now, notice I did not say "all about" for that is what the professional writers spend hours amassing great quantities of research and data to produce books do. I on the other hand have been tracking through 1 Corinthians to see how Paul handled ministry to a difficult group of early believers in the pagan city of Corinth. To catch up check out this link.

(Acts 20:24) "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."

Paul had his ministry in mind when he addressed these Corinthian believers. His was a ministry commissioned by Christ and contained solely in the Gospel. This gospel now comes to bear in 1 Corinthians 9.

"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:19-27)

What is this thing called ministry? To Paul it was Submission and Subjection. Submission to a greater cause than his own, and subjection to greater people than himself.

Submission to a greater cause

The Cause is the Gospel. The cause is the salvation of human souls. The Cause is one that transcends pettiness and programs. The cause is the message of life vs. death and the only way to know life is through Jesus Christ. Paul knew that message. Paul was very ready to propagate this all important proclamation of God's eternal love.

"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:16)

Would that I felt that way about the Gospel. Oh, I claim to, I strive to, I want to. But to minister with such passion that I am submitted to nothing more than the Gospel message and that all else takes a back seat to the task of letting everyone around me know that Jesus died for their sins and offers them release and hope for eternity's opportunity. To be a true minister I need to subject myself to the overwhelming emotion and burden of the Gospel message. Not programs, not TV shows, not all the other things that want to trap me and bind me and pull me away from reaching people. Let it be that we are bound to the call of God to share this love story in every facet of life we find ourselves in. Be in Submission to the Gospel message.

Subjection to Greater People

In verses 19-23 (see above), Paul states that there are people at stake here - Jews, those under the Law, those who are without law, weak, all men. Paul grants us his desire to reach those who are without the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Paul does everything for the Gospel's sake (v. 23).

He becomes all things to all people. He becomes a Jew to win the Jews, as one without the law to win those who are without the law, weak to win the weak, and whatever it takes to whoever he is near; he does it to convince them, to show them their need of the Savior.

Now, we have Paul's own disclaimers here in these verses. He still is under the law of Christ and God and he acknowledges that his message is never based upon observance of the Mosaic Law or its commandments (v. 20, 21). The message still remains pure and the messenger remains true to the commands of Scripture, but he as the messenger goes to them and reaches them where they are. He finds a way to empathize and even to sympathize. He does not make them conform to something they are not before he shows them how to be accepted and transformed by God.

The societal standards are not the standards Paul used to draw people to Christ. He did not make people good Christians before showing them Christ and letting Christ remedy the areas of need. Paul did not preach reformation programs but instead transformation.

Ministry is transformation of lives, not conformation of traditions and regulations and even expectations. Who will we reach? What groups will we approach? Who makes our list of hopefuls? To Paul, if you lived and breathed, you were fair game. That is ministry. Souls, not classes.

Let's be partakers in the Gospel. Let's aim for what we know to be imperishable. We need to discipline our lives to focus on the eternal and keep our eyes on that goal. Let's not disqualify ourselves by giving attention to temporal or even sinful satisfaction. Let's give our bodies as the sacrifice God can use to reach even into gutter to demonstrate the utter love of God through Jesus Christ.

Now that is Ministry!

Rejoice!

This verse comes to my mind today, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." (Luke 15:10)

My wife just called to tell me that a little boy did in fact trust Christ this week at our 5 Day Club meetings. One sinner. Pray for this little guy. Pray that God will use us to now equip him for the life ahead. Pray that we will be able to lead the rest of his family to a saving knowledge of Christ.

May we rejoice with our great God who finds it to be the greatest news ever, even so that the angels and all of heaven stops and shouts, "Glory!"

Insecure Believers

I apologize for the delay in picking up where I left off on this topic of salvific certainty. I have enjoyed some needed time away and the opportunity to see some family I have not seen in actually years.

This topic is becoming more dominant as I travel and interract with other pastors and church attenders. The conversations usually are the same with baffled looks and expressions of "how can they believe this?" The fact of the matter is that there are those within evangelical circles that are being taught that they can lose their salvation. They can miss out on going to heaven. Where do they get this?

Now, last time I mentioned that I had spoken with a lady who felt that one could never be "kicked out of God's family, but you could choose to leave God's family." The basis of this was founded upon "logic." I am in no way trying to belittle this individual. However, the basis of such a dangerous position was not directly from Scripture, but from a feeling of logical conclusions.

To this one and many others the impression is that if I sin and make the conscious decision to abandon God, renounce my faith, and leave off following the will of God, then I am no longer a "born again" individual.

To some other individual's credit they will turn to passages of Scripture. One that really amazed me was when one used Luke 9:23 which says,

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Now I do understand that in Luke discipleship and salvation go hand in hand, but to equate this verse with a possible dropping of the cross meaning you have left the ranks and am no longer a Christian is beyond the context or the intention of what Christ is referring to.

Others use Hebrews 6; 2 Peter 2:20, 21; Romans 8:13; Revelation 22:18, 19; etc. I recently received a book entitled, The Believer's Condtional Security. It was written by David D. Corner who was unknown to me and no biographical information is on the book. The book runs close to 800 pages and tries to discredit the stance of eternal secuity. Corner's contintion amongst many is that an apostate is a believer that leaves the faith. Thus if this one is saved and is then described as Scripture does, then one can lose his or her salvation.

Now we will leave this hanging for a time and I intend to come back with some further provocation as well as some hopeful answers. Take a look at these verses and see if you see a problem with the direction these individuals take them.

Eternally Insecure

Although this is by no means a new debate or one that is fresh on the horizon of theological consternations, the issue of eternal security has been hitting me and some of my church members rather hard over the past few months.

I am amazed at the differing views this postion holds. Some would say that resident sin in one's life can lead to a "losing of one's salvation." Others would argue that God would never allow that to happen, but you can choose when to walk away from your faith. You and I have the power to renounce our faith and leave God's care, so they would argue.

Now on the other end of the spectrum are those who would say that once saved, you are always saved. Of course that is what I would agree with, but what of these statements.

Now again, I know that there are books written on this topic, but apparently those books are not being read by many well meaning believers. Just this past week at our annual "crusade to win the children of our community," or as most these days call it, VBS, a child came up to our missionary speaker and asked him what was salvation. David Flinck, missionary appointee to Chile, proceded to explain what God required for forgiveness of sin. The boy quickly responded that he asked God to forgive him every time he went to church. I was then speaking with the boy after one of the sessions and his mother came in to hear the discussion. Her affirmation was that God would never kick us out of His family, but we could leave the family. We have the choice to leave if we so choose, but God will always be there to welcome us back.

The greatest question I have for such statements is "where in Scripture do we read that?" Many run to Hebrews and into the Gospels, but many do not read these passages through with such interpretations.

Over the next few weeks, I want to "ramble" some thoughts down on this topic of eternally insecure. If you have any leading thoughts or questions I will do my best to interact. However, the greatest resource would be for comments on passages of Scripture that people (perhaps youself) use to come to such a conclusion that one can lose salvation or "fall from the faith" to such a point that eternal security is in question.