Necessary Qualities

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of [this] life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.              2 Timothy 2:3-7  NKJV

Who in this life has never wished that something could be easier?  It just seems natural that we look for the easiest way to do something in order to avoid expending more physical or emotional effort than required to accomplish whatever it is we are faced with.  I have a feeling most of us, if given a choice, would choose an easier task rather than a difficult one simply because it seems to be our nature to do that.

Yet in this passage Paul does a very good job of removing any thoughts we might have that a life pleasing to Christ is going to be easy.  In fact, he does just the opposite by comparing the life we have chosen to three occupations that help to illustrate what will be expected of us if we are to succeed in serving our Lord in a manner that pleases Him.  Those three illustrations are of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of [this] life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. V. 3-4

When we consider the life of a soldier, one of the first things that should become apparent is that by enlisting in the army an individual is choosing to serve and obey the authority of his superiors.  In effect, a soldier dedicates himself to follow the orders of his superiors without question and ignoring anything or anyone which might interfere with that mission.  I recall once visiting a military post with a friend and recognizing someone I knew from school who was on guard duty that day.  I called out a greeting to him and was surprised when he did not even acknowledge it.  My friend explained that while on guard duty soldiers were forbidden to do anything which might distract them from their assignment to guard.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.  Matthew 6:24  NKJV

Paul uses the example of a soldier serving to help us understand that we need to be committed to serving Christ to the point that we do not allow even the cares of this life to distract us from that service.  The question for all of us to answer is are we serving God with the sort of dedication which blocks out everything else?

And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. V. 5

I know I have mentioned before that I participated in athletics for many years, and the one sport where I had the most success was track and field.  I was fortunate enough to run the third leg of the quarter mile relay while in college on a team that, at that particular time, was considered overachievers.  The relay race, like others, has a set of rules that must be followed or you face the possibility of disqualification.  Not only must you not step on the lines of your assigned lane, you must also pass the baton within a marked zone which, if you are running as fast as you can, seems incredibly short.  When running on the curved part of the track as I did, you could actually shorten the distance you ran by running as close to the inside line as possible.  My only talent, (I was not the fastest runner on the team) was the ability to run along that inside line without touching it and getting us all disqualified.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [it].  1 Corinthians 9:24  NKJV

Living a life that is pleasing to God requires following the rules He has set before us.  Do you discipline yourself daily to know and follow those rules or have you chosen to simply ignore the ones you find “inconvenient”?  Paul explains we must live our lives according to God’s commandments and I think you will find the world is full of those who are watching you with the hope of seeing a mistake which gets you disqualified.

The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.  V. 6

I live in an agricultural area which, according to the experts, grows some of the best timothy hay in the world.  So much so, that the vast majority of it is exported to many countries outside of the United States.  One of the things I noticed soon upon moving here is just how hard and time consuming it is to raise a crop.  Many of us are familiar with the old expression “can see to can’t see” which describes the length of the day many farmers put in.  I can tell you for a fact that in this part of the country “can see” is around 4:30 AM while “can’t see” is around 9:30 PM.  Right now the farmers are cutting and baling the first cut of hay and if you are up at those times you will find that they are already out in the fields working to get that hay in.

The lazy [man] does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence [is] man's precious possession.  Proverbs 12:27  NKJV

Paul says that because of his diligence, the farmer is entitled to be the first to eat what he has produced.  Do we as believers approach our service for God with the same kind of diligence as a farmer does with his crop?  Do we work from daylight to dark, or do we take a little time off when we get tired or discouraged?  May we all pray for the strength to work as hard as God asks of us.

Dedication, discipline, and diligence.  Three qualities that Paul tells Timothy are necessary to be successful in a life committed to the service of our Father in heaven.  If you have made the choice to accept the gift of salvation which God has provided for us, my prayer for all of us is that we will approach our lives for Him with these three necessary qualities.

Keep watching.

The Fight Club

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  Ephesians 6:10-11  NKJV

I think it is safe to say that at one time or another most all of us have experienced some sort of conflict with someone else.  Life being what it is, we as humans seem to always find someone we don’t get along with yet have to interact with for one reason or another which then leads to conflict.  The nature of the conflict may take many forms depending on the personalities of the individuals, yet I have no doubt all of us have experienced what is commonly described as a “fight”.  There was even a major motion picture released a few years ago called “The Fight Club” where individuals actually joined a club with others with the sole intention of fighting someone else.

Now while I am sure none of us really likes to fight, and most if not all of us try to avoid a fight if we can, when we study the New Testament it certainly appears that most of the writers go out of their way to prepare us for the reality that we are actually in a big one.  By choosing to believe in the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and making the commitment to live our lives according to His commands, we are entering quite literally the fight of our lives.  In this passage from his letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives us detailed instructions concerning this fight, and how we are to approach and prepare ourselves for it.

One of the most important points Paul makes here is in verse eleven where he tells us that what is expected of us as believers is simply to "stand". He repeats this in verse thirteen where he tells us that after doing "everything", we stand firm. In his way, God is telling us through Paul that the only thing He expects from us is that we play defense, not offense.  In verse fourteen we are told we can stand firm if we remember those parts of God's armor we have already put on when we made the decision to follow Christ. Those were reminding ourselves of the truth of Christ in which we believe, remembering our position before God thanks to the righteousness of Christ, and resting in the peace that is ours from the knowledge of the first two which was promised to us in the gospel of Christ.

So where do we go from here? Well, in verse sixteen Paul introduces us to the most practical piece of our armor, the one that we will need to use the most, and that is the shield of faith.

above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  Ephesians 6:16  NKJV

Now personally I like this picture because to me, it really illustrates well what Satan is trying to do to us as believers, and the way he tries to attack. First of all, an arrow is not all that large, and if one is coming straight at you I expect it is pretty hard to see. Second, I have watched people shoot arrows with the compound bows used today and I can tell you for a fact that those arrows fly very, very fast. Third, they are pretty quiet as well. You can look at an arrow as the first of the stealth weapons, because the first time you will probably hear them is when they hit you, and obviously by then it's too late to do anything about it. Fourth, and even more important is the kind of arrow Satan uses. It's not your everyday arrow, but a flaming arrow which not only wounds you, but starts a fire that will continue to burn until put out.

As a result, God tells us that we need to take up the shield of faith. Hopefully like me, you have had the opportunity to watch a movie that illustrates the use of a shield to defend against an attack by arrows. I know I have seen a few that have done a great job showing what it must have been like to be in a battle like that. You have an army marching forward, carrying their shields which are almost as big as they are tall, and the opposing army launching their arrows. As soon as they fire, their opponents kneel down and hide behind their shields as thousands of arrows fall from the sky. As the attacking army continues to fire their arrows, the defending army simply waits behind their shields until the advancing army is out of arrows, and then they begin their attack. God tells us something in verse sixteen that I think is very critical for us to remember. He says that if we take up the shield of faith we WILL be able to "extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one." Not some, ALL. That is the sort of reassurance we as believers all need to remind ourselves of daily.

Since we know we can win with God's help, it is also important to understand what these arrows will look like so we can recognize the "stealth" attack by Satan. I think the clue is in how God describes them when He says they are "flaming". Obviously a flaming arrow will start a fire, which then burns until put out. How does Satan "burn" us inside? I think these arrows will have two characteristics no matter what form they may come in. Remember they are coming from Satan, and we already know his method of attack. Satan wants us to doubt the truth from God in which we have believed, so first of all these flaming arrows will come out of our own thoughts. It's a sneak attack that seems to come from nowhere when we begin to doubt what we believe in.

Secondly, they will attack our position in Christ, the faith in Him that we have, which has already been described in the first pieces of armor we put on. You see, the key to overcoming a good defense is to first create doubt in the mind of your opponent that he is capable of defending himself. That works in any sport you can think of, as well as our fight against Satan.

Most important to us, though, is to understand the difference between what we believe, and the shield of "faith" which we are instructed to take up. What is faith? The best answer I can give you is faith is "acting" on your belief. You see, belief is one thing, but making decisions, taking action, demonstrating your belief in what you do is faith. Faith is always action. I can say I believe that the airplane will fly, but unless I get on board I won't be demonstrating faith. The fact that you may have doubts proves that you have faith. So apply your belief to everything, every situation you find yourself in, and you will be demonstrating faith and defeating Satan and his arrows. We need to be "active" believers, Christians DOING not just believing. Ever notice how the defensive players in football are always moving around just before the snap? That's what we need to be as believers, moving targets that make it harder for Satan to hit.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  James 4:7  NKJV

This verse tells us that if we "resist the devil", (another way of saying take up the shield of faith and act), the devil "will flee from you". We can win this battle. God has not only told us how, but given us the tools. We only need to follow His instructions to be successful in our fight. But the best part of all is the understanding that we only have to play defense.  

Keep watching.

Do You Really Love Him?

"If you love Me, keep My commandments.                       John 14:15  NKJV

Most of us have, at one time or another experienced the joy that comes from knowing someone loves us.  I am equally sure that most of us would agree that there is no greater feeling than to know someone cares about us in a loving way.  Just this weekend I was doing some house cleaning and came upon an envelope in which I had placed many of the little notes that I received over the years from all three of my daughters.  The notes were written on different occasions, mostly when I had to travel for different reasons, but they all had one thing in common and that was that they all expressed their love for me.

As I sat and thought about those years, I began to remember all the little things that they had done as they were growing up in order to show their love for me.  Some were big, some were small, but the one thing they all had in common was that whatever it was, it was demonstrative.  In other words, they were not content to just say they loved me, but rather they wanted to show me they did by doing something they knew I would enjoy.  I think it would be fair to say we would all agree that when we truly love someone it is a natural desire to want to do something in order to show that person just how much we care.  It also stands to reason that we would seek to know the person well enough to give them something we know they would want and enjoy.

Obviously as believers we should have the desire to demonstrate our love for our Heavenly Father in ways that we know would please Him.  In the passage above from the book of John, Jesus tells us just what God wants from those who claim to love Him, and that is obedience to His Word.  In this chapter, as well as the next, Jesus repeatedly explains that what God wants most, and expects, is that those who claim to love Him follow His commandments.

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." John 14:21  NKJV

Jesus makes it clear that the proof of our love for the Father is the desire to please Him by knowing and following His commandments.  So how logical does it seem that many today believe the greatest threat to the Church is the attack on the authority of the Scriptures?  It should come as no surprise considering we are shown exactly how Satan works by looking at what happened in the Garden of Eden.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; "but of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.                             Genesis 3:1-4  NKJV

In other words, God said it, but He really didn’t mean it?  How often today do we hear those same words or something similar when the Word of God commands a certain course of action which the world may find objectionable?  More and more today we see examples of the Church compromising on certain commandments we find in the Word in order to be “politically correct”.  As believers though, the question the Church should be asking is simply this; “do you really love Him”?  If you truly love someone your concern is how best to show them your love in a way that they would appreciate.  When it comes to our relationship with God, He has already made it clear how best to please Him.

"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.                                  John 15:10  NKJV

I think the key word in this passage, and the answer to how best know what God expects is contained in the word “abide”.  In the Greek the word is meno which means to sojourn, abide in or tarry, or continue to be present.  In other words, by striving to keep God’s commandments we are pleasing Him, and as a result are able to live our lives in a relationship with our Father in which He can manifest His love for us just as we do for Him.  I like how David describes the relationship we can have with our Father if we seek to please Him in this way.

ALEPH. Blessed [are] the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed [are] those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. You have commanded [us] To keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments.              Psalms 119:1-6  NKJV

Do you really love Him?  Are you trying to please Him, or please yourself?  You see, that is what it really all comes down to.  We either do what we know is pleasing to God, or we choose to do what pleases us.  My daughters looked for ways to make me happy, either by writing little notes or doing things for me they knew I would like.  That was their way of showing me they loved me.  Are you looking for ways to show God you love Him?  You do that by studying His Word and keeping His commandments.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?         Luke 6:46  NKJV

Keep watching.

The Enemy Within

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.                                 Jude 1:3-4, 8  NKJV

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but one of the more interesting things that has happened to me quite often in the past few years is that after I post on Sunday I find that many others have written about the exact same subject as I have.  Now as often as this has happened, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a coincidence but rather the working of the Holy Spirit who is communicating what concerns Him to all who will listen.  This week the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about the state of the church, and, for lack of a better expression, the “dumbing down” of the gospel as more and more believers choose to compromise on the laws God has clearly laid out for us to obey.

Something I have often wondered when studying scripture, especially the New Testament, is the possibility that the closer we get to the book of Revelation, we are getting specific advice addressed to those who live in the time closest to the fulfillment of those prophecies. Now understand, I fully believe that as the Bible says; all scripture is “profitable”, but I can't help but wonder as I read the book of Jude, which we find right before the book of Revelation, is that Jude speaking about the time which immediately precedes the tribulation? Are we being told something we really need to hear and understand? Is Jude describing what life will be like immediately before Christ returns for His church?

In his book, Jude warns us specifically that the time will come where the greatest danger to the church will come not from the outside, where the danger has historically been, but rather from the inside by way of those who profess to believe but reject the authority of scripture.  I think Jude describes them well in verse eight where his description of them shows they have a blatant, arrogant irreverence to the Word of God.  As difficult as this might seem to many of us, you don’t need to look very far at all to see this very thing happening all around us today.  I wrote about this a couple of years ago and want to revisit that post with a few additions in the hope that you will not only find something of use to grow in your faith, but also have the courage to examine yourselves in light of the message from Jude.

When my children were small, I can remember times when I especially wanted to make a point I would say something like “you really, really, really, need to listen to me now!” Have you ever used that type of language to get someone's attention? This is exactly what I thought of when I first read this verse from Jude. So as always, the first thing I did was do a word search trying to understand exactly what point Jude was trying to make here. The words that stood out to me were “exhort” and “earnestly contend”.

Exhort: parakaleō... to beg, entreat, beseech

Earnestly contend: epagōnizomai...two words, epi and agōnizomai which used together means to take a deep breath, to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something.

Now I don't know about you, but when I had to “exhort” my children to do something, it was because whatever I asked them to do in a normal tone of voice wasn't getting done. So the result was resorting to other methods of persuasion in order to convince them of the necessity of performing the task given to them. The subject in this passage is obviously sharing the gospel message with an unbelieving world, and apparently we are being told that first of all, Jude had to resort to “exhorting” believers to do this. What a sad commentary of the times when believers for whatever reason need to be “begged” to share the gospel!

I think most of us understand that the natural reaction of the body before attempting to perform a strenuous task is to take a deep breath. Unfortunately for me, as I get older I notice myself taking deep breaths before doing just about anything! But I think you understand what Jude is trying to say here. The time has apparently come where sharing the gospel is a difficult, strenuous undertaking, and believers are obviously becoming hesitant to share their faith with an unbelieving world! So a situation has appeared where Jude must resort to begging believers to perform their responsibility to share the gospel because it has become a difficult, if not discouraging thing to try and do.

Last week God used a situation in my life to illustrate this passage to me in a way that even I could understand. I have mentioned before that I like to fish, and although not very good at it, fishing is the sort of sport where you don't necessarily have to be successful to enjoy it. Fortunately for me I have a good friend who is very good at it, and likes to take me along with him in his boat and show me the right way to do it. ( I actually think he takes me along so he can laugh but that's another story. ) So there we were trying to catch bass during spawning season and while he was pounding them I was getting skunked.

After awhile he asked me exactly how was I retrieving my lure? I thought that was a funny question because don't you just throw it out there and pull it back? His answer was that during the spawn, the fish are on the bottom guarding their nests, and in order to get a strike I needed to let the lure go to the bottom and drag it along so the bass considered it a threat. Now my answer was that was a good way to snag and lose a good lure, but his answer was if I fished where the fish weren't, I wasn't going to catch anything anyway.

So admitting to myself he knew what he was talking about, I tossed my lure out and began to drag it across the bottom, and wouldn't you know it, first cast and bang! In fact, guess who caught the most fish? That's right, he did, but I was a close second. The point God made to me was this; how often do we continue to try and share the gospel in a way that seems “safe” to us? If it becomes difficult do we take a deep breath and do what needs to be done, or do we retreat and put ourselves in a position where God must “exhort” us to do what He needs us to do?

Now more than ever, we see the world becoming hostile towards the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rejection, scorn, and even persecution are the orders of the day when trying to spread the good news. Many are becoming discouraged with all that life is throwing at us right now, and how easy it is in circumstances like these that we tend to retreat rather than press on. Jude gives all believers what I would call an “attitude check” in this passage. What exactly is your mindset right now as the world approaches the return of Christ for His church? Are the difficulties causing you to back off, or become more aggressive? God, through His servant Jude, gives us the direction and advice we need as believers living in these troubled times.  I think it is no coincidence that in the book of Revelation, the church at Laodicea, which is a description of the church which will exist just before the tribulation begins, is described as "lukewarm".  What a perfect description of a church that believes you can compromise on the authority of scripture.

I believe we as a body need to look in the mirror and examine our own faith by asking three questions based on this message from Jude.  One, do I submit to the Word of God?  Two, do I respect the authority of Scripture?  Three, am I humble and teachable?  Our goal is to take a deep breath and press on with the knowledge that very, very soon we will have our reward. The easy path when confronted by those who would challenge the authority of God’s Word is to compromise in order to avoid conflict and escape persecution.  The hardest part of the race comes just before the finish line.  As we approach our deliverance from this world may we “contend earnestly” in sharing the Word of God in love with those who would challenge the authority of His Word.

Keep watching.

 PS.  Like I said, write about a subject and the next thing you know you find someone else doing the same thing.  I just found this article concerning the subject of the greatest challenge facing the Church today written by Albert Mohler, the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

http://www.religiontoday.com/columnists/al-mohler/no-truth-without-love-no-love-without-truth-church-great-challenge.html

http://raptureready.com/soap/sylvester28.html

Do You Really Love Him?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, [which is] your reasonable service.       Romans 12:1  NKJV

I listened this week to an interview with a well known pastor which entailed many questions surrounding the state of the church in America today.  Some of his answers as to the causes for why the church is in the state it is in had to do specifically with how many young people under the age of thirty, who consider themselves to be Christians, seem to have adopted many of the moral standards of the world we live in rather than living according to God’s standards. I was amazed at some of the figures he shared that were the result of surveys which showed just how many of these young people are totally ignoring God’s commandments on morality and sexual purity.

As I listened to what he had to say, my thoughts went immediately to this passage from the book of Romans, mostly because it is one of the first I ever memorized as a child, but also because it certainly has a lot to say about what our love for God is supposed to look like. Three things came to mind as I read this verse and I want to share them with you today in the hope that you will better understand what God wants from us, and what our relationship with Him should be like.

The first thing I thought of was the word "present". Now obviously in this context it is used to mean "to give", as in give away, but I also thought of the idea of our bodies being a present as in a "gift" which we give to someone else. It seems to me that Paul is saying that we should give our bodies to God as a living gift for Him to use as He sees fit. I'm sure all of us have received a gift for one reason or another, and so are familiar with the feeling of joy that is produced when given something of value. So why do we "give" a gift of value to someone else? First we do it because we care about that person, and second because we want to see the joy it produces when received. Why do we care enough to give a gift to God? Well, one of the first things I was taught about studying the Bible was when you see the word "therefore", you look at the verses that come before to see what it's "there for".

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable [are] His judgments and His ways past finding out!  "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?" For of Him and through Him and to Him [are] all things, to whom [be] glory forever. Amen.                                                                                           Romans 11:33-36  NKJV                  

You see, it's because of His riches and all that He has done for us that we want to give something back of value to Him. Paul tells us that our bodies, as a "living sacrifice", is the thing that God will find most "pleasing" so we give it as a gift knowing that God will never "take" it but rather patiently waits for us to give it.

The second thought that came to mind was that when you give a gift to someone, you release ownership of it. It no longer belongs to you, but to the person you gave it too. Now of course, some have tried that and we know there is a term for people who give things away and then try to take them back, but the whole idea here is to give away without wanting back. That's what makes it a sacrifice. Yet if our bodies are to be a "living sacrifice", the question must be asked just how often do we take it back in order to do what we want rather than what God wants? If we truly give our bodies to God, we should never want them back, but completely surrender our desires to Him and allow Him to use us as He will. As much as I wish I could say I have never taken my body back I can't, and I expect there are a lot of you who have to join me in saying that.

 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.  Matthew 20:28  NKJV

Have you ever had the thought of what our relationship with God would be like if He could take back His sacrifice for us any time He wanted?  We would be walking around constantly looking over our shoulder in fear that we would do something that would cause Him to stop loving us.  Fortunately for us, God has promised us that He will never do that, and His love for us and the sacrifice He made by giving His own Son to die for our sins is eternal.  Have you ever worried about if someone really loved you or not?  Have you ever been hurt when someone you thought loved you did something to cause you pain?  How then does God feel when we promise to give Him our lives and then constantly hurt Him by ignoring His commandments and doing what we want based on our own desires and not His?

Our thoughts should always be, if we truly love Him, to do whatever will please Him in any situation and to always seek His will and follow His commandments.  As Paul has said here in this passage, giving your life to Him as a “living sacrifice” is our “reasonable service”.

The third thought that came to me is that our "present" to God must be "acceptable". Now that scares me on the surface because I know there is no way I could make my body in any way "acceptable" to God so that He would be pleased with it. But if you read on you find that Paul isn't telling us that "we" do the cleaning to make our lives "acceptable".

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.                                                                                   Romans 12:2  NKJV

The point Paul is trying to make here is that God does the work for us when we allow Him to transform our minds, which then results in us becoming acceptable. But we have to make the choice to allow our minds to be transformed. How do we do that? Well, this verse seems to make it clear that it is really a question of black and white. Either we are concerned with the things of this world, or doing the will of God. There doesn't really seem to be any middle ground here. Paul says it's one or the other. Most of us would agree that the spirit of this age is obviously the advancement of self. It's all about what we have, what we can get, what makes me happy, what's in it for me?, etc. What Paul is telling us is that we need to be transformed so that our thoughts are about what God wants, what will glorify Him, what does He want me to do? Just the opposite of what the world says we are to be concerned with.

 I want to share with you some words from Ray Stedman on this passage, and what he feels God is telling us when He says “do not be conformed”.

 First, "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world." Literally, this means "the schemes of this world," the schemes that men come up with, by which they regulate and run their lives. The word of the Lord is, "Stop being conformed to that." "Oh," you say, "I know what that means. I know exactly what you are talking about. That means you should not smoke or drink or play cards or, if you are really, really spiritual, you sell your television set and never drink coffee or tea again." You say that is being spiritual and not being conformed to the world.

There are a lot of Christians who have thought that. I grew up thinking that if you stopped all these things that the world does you were being spiritual. And there was always a particular list of forbidden activities. A lot of other things the world did were not on the list, but the things mentioned above were always on it. And if you stopped doing those things you were not being conformed to the world. I had to learn, through rather painful experience, that has nothing do with spirituality at all. Those things are neither good nor bad in themselves.
I know people who have given up all of them, and yet they are still saturated by the spirit of the age. That is what this word really means. It doesn't mean "be not conformed to this world," it means "be not conformed to the pattern of this age, the spirit of the age, the philosophy of thought and of life that surrounds us on every side." God says, "Don't give way to the schemes of men, the schemes by which they live their lives."
The spirit of the age, you see, is always the same. It never changes from generation to generation. The basis of it is clearly the advancement of self. Everybody in the world lives to advance himself. Just listen, and you will see how true that is. You hear them talk about it. "What do I get out of this? What is in it for me?" That is the spirit of the age. "What's my angle; how can I work this for my benefit? Unless there is something in it for me, I'm not interested!" That is the spirit of the age.
What the Word is saying to us is "Don't be stuck in that kind of thinking, because that is what is wrecking life among men. That is what brings the heartache and ruin and disaster into our lives. Don't live on that basis anymore. Don't get sucked into that kind of thinking; it's wrong! It is an approach to life that is twisted and distorted, and it won't work. Don't be trapped by it."
What is the spirit of this age? We all know what it is. It is my personal happiness. If the advancement of self is the basis for all life, then the goal of all life is my happiness. You hear that on every side. Unfortunately, it has infiltrated the church as well. Christians talk this way just as much as anybody else. They say, "The reason why I am working and living is so I can have my needs met, my desires fulfilled."

Have you truly sacrificed yourself? Are you so thankful for the mercy God has shown to you that you want to give Him the gift of your body? Do you love Him enough that you won't try to take it back, and instead allow Him to use you as He will? Have you allowed Him to transform your mind so you think only of what He wants, rather than what you want? God says our bodies can be a pleasing gift to Him, and one that He will be happy to receive if we truly are willing to be transformed.

Have you sacrificed your body to Him?

Keep watching.

A Time To Watch?

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.               Acts 2:1-2  NKJV

I know it’s my habit to post on Sundays, but I felt moved to share this post from a few years back with you about the Feast of Pentecost, and to do it before this weekend.  I’m not sure exactly why, but truthfully I quit asking why a long time ago when it comes to doing what the Spirit tells me to do. 

I don't think it would be a stretch to assume that most, if not all of us, are familiar with what a "timeout" call is. In most sporting events, the ability to stop or freeze the clock for a period of time is called a "timeout". Of course, it follows that when the timeout is over and the clock starts again, it starts exactly where it stopped when the timeout was called. So what does this have to do with a study in eschatology? Well, most Bible scholars agree that Israel could be called God's clock, since God did in fact tell Israel through the prophet Daniel that they had only a specific period of time for their history to unfold. This is what is known as the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel. It is also acknowledged that God's clock stopped at the end of sixty-nine weeks to allow the beginning of what is known as the Church Age, or the period in history where believers in Jesus as the Messiah would build His church, and end with an event known as the rapture. So the question is, exactly when did that happen, and does it have any significance in our study of the end times according to the scriptures?

There are many reasons why this particular feast is considered to be very important to believers today. First of all, if you read about the birth of the church in the book of Acts, chapter two, you find that it occurred on the Feast of Pentecost, exactly fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits when Jesus rose from the dead. Many believers consider this day to be the birthday of the Church as we know it. This was the day that God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell those who chose to believe in Jesus, providing believers with "power" as described by Jesus himself in Acts 1:8. This is also the day, according to most all biblical scholars, that God's clock with Israel stopped, or for the sake of this blog, He called a timeout. Is this important? Maybe we can answer that with an examination of some of the events, and traditions, associated with the Feast of Pentecost.

One of the greatest love stories to be found in the Bible is the Book of Ruth. It is a story of how a gentile, (non-Jew), was "redeemed", or bought with a price, by a "kinsman" or relative (who was a Jew) according to Jewish law, and then becomes the bride of her redeemer. This story takes place in Bethlehem, (curious), the events transpire during the fifty days between the barley and wheat harvest, (interesting), and the redeemer takes his bride at the end of that time, or at the Feast of Pentecost. This feast is known by other names, one of which is the Festival of Reaping, or Ḥag ha-Katsir, and celebrates the end of the grain harvest in Israel. It is the tradition of the Jews to read the book of Ruth on Pentecost every year, much as we read about Jesus birth at Christmas, and His resurrection at Easter.

Another rabbinical tradition is that Enoch was born on Pentecost, or the 6th of Sivan as it occurs on the Jewish calendar. Enoch is an interesting individual considering that he was the first prophet in the Bible, and his first prophecy was of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Jude 14-15). Even more interesting is that the Bible tells us he did not die, but was "taken" by God (raptured) (Genesis 5:24). Also intriguing is the fact that it is a Jewish tradition that he was taken on his birthday, or Pentecost.

In the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4 verse 16, the apostle Paul tells us that the "trump of God" will sound at the rapture of the Church. This term "trump of God" only appears twice in the Bible; at the rapture and in the book of Exodus, chapter 19, verse 13, where God gives the Law to Moses at Mt. Sinai. By now it should come as no surprise that if you read from the beginning of the chapter you find the events at Mt. Sinai also occurred during Pentecost.

Now strange as it may sound, I'm going to venture away from the Bible for my last point, and share something with you written by Josephus, who many of you may recognize as a person who lived at the time of Christ, and was commissioned by the Romans to write a history of the Jews. His works have long been acknowledged to be not only very complete, but proven time and again to be historically accurate. The following quotation is from one of his works and refers to something that was reported to have occurred during the Feast of Pentecost.

Josephus, "Wars of the Jews" VI. V. 3 (emphasis mine)

Thus there was a star (20) resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, (21) [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour.

"This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it. At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner (22) [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night (i.e., MIDNIGHT). Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.

"Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call PENTECOST, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, THEY FELT A QUAKING, AND HEARD A GREAT NOISE, AND AFTER THAT THEY HEARD A SOUND AS OF A GREAT MULTITUDE, SAYING, "LET US REMOVE HENCE." (end quote)

Many believe that God's clock with Israel is going to start exactly where it left off, on the Feast of Pentecost. As we have seen, there are more than a few references to a "rapture" type event associated with the Feast of Pentecost. Will the Church be raptured on it's birthday? Of course, no one knows for certain and I certainly can't say for sure but I hope I'm not the only one who finds it more than curious that there seem to be so many events common to this particular day of the year. Jesus commanded us to watch for His return, and I for one think it very important to take Him at His word. I'm watching every day, and I hope the words I share with you in these pages encourage you to watch as well.

Keep watching.

What Will We Hear?

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

One of the things I enjoyed most when teaching young people were the questions I often got from them concerning the things we were studying in the scriptures. One of my favorites, and one I got repeatedly when teaching the rapture of the Church is if we will know or be aware that we are being raptured, or do we simply find ourselves suddenly in heaven without a clue that it was about to happen? That really is a great question and one I think many of us have thought about at one time or another, so I thought we might take a little time this morning to look closer at the event we call the rapture.

This verse in Thessalonians is probably the best one we can use in describing exactly what God says will happen on that day. If we look closely at what it says, we find that we are told there are actually three distinct things which will occur in sequence when Jesus returns for His Church. These are a shout by the Lord Himself, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God. So let's look closer at each of these three and see if there is a clue to the answer to our question “will we know”?

The Shout. In this verse we are told this shout is from the Lord Jesus Himself. Now at first, it would seem understandable that Jesus might want to shout since He has been waiting over two thousand years to come get His bride, yet there may be more to it than that. We are also told in this verse that “the dead in Christ will rise first”. So there is a sequence of events, and the first is the resurrection of the bodies of those believers who have already died to be reunited with their souls which went to be with Lord at the time of their death.

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV

When a believer dies, his soul goes to be with the Lord in Heaven while his body is left behind. At the time of the rapture, the Lord apparently commands their bodies to rise from the grave just as He did with Lazarus.

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"
John 11:43 NKJV

So the first thing to happen at the time of the rapture is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. Like one young person said during Sunday School;” would it be cool to be in a cemetery when that happens?” We laugh, but I just wonder if he is right?  Another thought I had this past week while thinking about this passage is that Jesus called Lazarus by name.  As one pastor I know said, “What would have happened if He had just said come forth”?  Every dead person from the beginning of time would have risen!  This makes me wonder; if Jesus called Lazarus by name, is it possible that the shout we will all hear is Jesus calling us by our own names to come home?  The Greek word for shout used here is keleusma, which is translated “an order, or command”.  Just as when He commanded Lazarus to come forth, if Jesus doesn’t use our names, would everybody rise?  At first that might sound strange to you, but the more I think about it the more I think there is a possibility that the shout we will hear at the rapture will be Jesus calling us by name to come home.

The Voice. The only angel in the Bible to receive the title of archangel is the angel Michael, so I think it is safe to assume that is who is being talked about here. As opposed to the Lord's “shout”, we are told that we only hear the “voice” of Michael, so we are left to wonder exactly what his role here is. If you have studied this passage, or study it further, you will find there are a few opinions as to what might be going on. Although any of them might be right, I am going to go as far as to suggest a new one which may or may not be accurate, but feels the most comfortable to me. As I sat and thought about why Michael might be involved, I decided to look at the other occasions where he is mentioned in the Bible. A very interesting place I found is in the book of Jude where we are told this;

Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Jude 1:9 NKJV

Now I certainly found it curious that here we find a situation involving Michael that, along with the account of the rapture, is concerned with a body belonging to a believer. In this account in Jude, the only explanation that makes any sense is that Satan was disputing “possession” of the dead body of Moses. We can find an account of this in the non-canonical Book of Enoch, which Jude is obviously referring to. In that account Satan laid claim to the body for two reasons. The first was that Moses was a murderer because he took the life of an Egyptian, and the second was that Moses body was buried on earth, and he, Satan, is the lord over the things of this world. So my thoughts are these; if Satan has in the past disputed over the ownership of the body of one believer, just what will his reaction to the resurrection of all dead believers bodies be? If in fact this is what happens, doesn't it make sense that the same scenario will repeat itself and the voice of the archangel is Michael again saying “The Lord rebuke you” to Satan? As I said, there are other ideas concerning this portion of the verse, but since both of these accounts of Michael concern the ownership of believers bodies, to me this seems to be a logical conclusion.

The Trumpet. In this passage we are told that we hear the "trumpet of God". Just what exactly is this trumpet sound and what if anything makes it special? In another account of the rapture, Paul tells us this;

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:52 NKJV

Here Paul refers to this trumpet as the "last trump". This helps us identify it for from studying rabbinical sources we see that this use of the term "last trump" means it is the shofar, or ram's horn which is being used. The shofar is related to the account of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and rabbinical tradition regards the left horn as the "first trump" and the right horn as the "last trump". There are two ways to blow the shofar, with the first being a series of short blasts which signify an alarm or bad news, and the second being one long blast which is meant to signal victory or good news. It is this last long blast which is identified as the "last trump". According to rabbinical sources the "last trump" or "tekiah gedolah" lasts as long as the blower has the lung capacity to blow. In this case, where the "trumpet of God"is being blown, one has to wonder just how long that blast will be. My personal opinion is very, very long.

The shout of Jesus calling for the resurrection of all dead believers bodies to rise, Michael rebuking Satan in the Lord's name for possession of the bodies, and the tekiah gedolah which lasts as long as the blower has breath, certainly gives rise to the thought that the answer to our original question might well be; yes! Yes we will know that the rapture is occurring because there is a sequence of three events which must take place before we go. I suspect the last trump will last long enough for all believers to know and understand that the time has come for the bride to go with the bridegroom and to rise and meet Him in the air. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Keep watching. (and listening)