[Have you ever known] somebody that turned out to be not at all what you thought they were? Maybe you thought they were really nice and you got to know them, and they turned out to be kind of ornery. Or the other way around-you thought they were kind of mean, and it turned out they were a sweetheart. Or maybe you thought they were really shy and quiet, and it turns out theyre quite talkative. Or you thought somebody was kind of aloof and dry, and they turned out to have a great sense of humor. I think we all can say that we have friends and people that we know that we thought were this way and turned out to be quite the opposite.

If you were to ask the average person on the street who doesnt go to church, Well, what kind of person was Jesus? I bet a lot of those people would respond like Sean Penns character did in that film, Dead Man Walking. I bet a lot of them would say, Well, turn the other cheek. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. He did good things. He was a good guy. But if you were to use the word rebel to describe Jesus, they would go, What? No! But He was. He did not rebel against the things of God, but He did rebel against the authority, the structure, the system, the corruption of His day that was so prevalent.

What were going to do this weekend and on Good Friday and Easter is were going to start a series, and its going to be a running narrative called, The Rebel. Were just going to survey. Were going to see the story and how this thing unfolded from an earthly perspective. We know from a Heavenly perspective that God was at work in His sovereignty and His providence, and He was accomplishing a work through Christ that would climax on the cross through death, burial, and resurrection; but there was also a dynamic that was going on-events that led up to that climax of Easter that were going to talk about.

You say, Well, how did this unfold? How did these tensions build to the point that these powerful men wanted to kill this preacher? Howd this all happen? To do that, we need to understand that these men, first of all, were very passionate about the Bible, very passionate about their faith, and very passionate about their way of life. They came across as very pious, very righteous, very zealous for God, but when you dug beneath the surface-when you peeled back the veneer-you found out that they were actually mostly about themselves, not about God. When preserving their way of life, preserving their power, Jesus would expose their corruption; He would expose their hypocrisy, and when He did that, it would cause them to be enraged. Theres going to be a clash, but I want you to figure out this morning who is going to throw the first punch. Who is going to draw first blood in this fight? Are they the ones picking on helpless, little humble preacher, Jesus, or is Jesus the one thats picking the fight?

Lets take a look. Lets open our Bibles to Mark 2. The reason I chose Mark 2 is there is a lot of activity in this area, a lot of conflict that I think is a good starting point. When Jesus first starts to teach, His ministry takes off like a rocket. The teaching, the miracles-people are coming to be healed. People are coming because of the teaching. People are coming because theyre curious, and the enemies are coming too because theyre hearing things. I mean Jesus comes out of nowhere. Hes 30 years old. He is from an obscure region of Nazareth. Hes a carpenter by trade. He doesnt go to any of the religious schools, so Hes not certified. He doesnt have a degree. He comes with no pedigree. His family is not a part of the religious elite or the powerful, the prominent. Theyre not. Theyre just a common family, and hes a common tradesman; so theres no notoriety. Theres nothing special about Him. Theres no in, yet He teaches as no one ever taught before because when you were a teacher, you would always say, Well, youve heard it said… The rabbi so and so said this. So and so, the scribe said that.

If you read the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, Youve heard it said, An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you... You have heard it said if you murder…but I say unto you.

He was expounding on the law, and He was changing the way the people viewed the Word of God. He was standing on His own authority, not on the rabbis [authority] that were before Him, and that was astonishing. Then whats more is in a thinly veiled way, He was attacking the Pharisees. He never said the P word at first. He didnt say, The Pharisees like to pray so they can be seen. They give their all for everybody to see. He didnt come out and say it right away. It was masked. It was disguised, but you kind of knew who He was talking about when He talked about hypocrisy. You kind of knew who He was picking on, and they didnt like that. Were going to see this go from a curiosity to a real threat because what happens is people begin to follow Jesus by the droves. If theyre following Jesus, guess who theyre not following? Theyre not following the scribes, the Pharisees, and the other teachers of the law. Theyre losing their people, and when they lose their people, they lose their influence. They lose their power-base, and they dont like it. They dont like it at all, so theyre going to come [forward]. With this miracle, were going to see there are going to be some enemies of Christ there as well. Were going to see their heart. Were going to start to see that this pious veneer begins to strip away, and we see what theyre really about.

In Mark 2, Jesus comes to the town where Hes living of Capernaum. In Capernaum, theres a house that either He is staying at or its a house of a friend, but thats where Jesus is staying. The crowd is so vast that they cant get in the door. They have this friend who is a paralytic, and when they cant get in, theyre desperate. They just know Christ could heal him, so they make a hole in the roof, and they lower him on a sheet-four men lower him down. We know that everything had to come to a grinding halt because after all, if the ceiling starts to crumble, and somebody starts to come through it, its hard to teach in that circumstance. If somebody started coming through our roof here, I guarantee you Id have a hard time keeping your attention; so everything stops. What is Jesus going to do? Whats He going to say? Jesus says something totally unexpected. He says to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven you, Verse 9 (page 991 of pew Bibles). Who said anything about coming to confess sins? They were coming to get a physical healing here, but Jesus says, Your sins are forgiven you.

Now who forgives sins? God does. Only God can truly forgive sins, remove them from their record. Only God can do that, so right away, to me, that's picking a fight. Jesus doesnt have to say that, but He says it because He knows its going to be controversial. The Bible says that they were thinking in their hearts. It says, Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves… They didnt articulate this. They didnt verbalize this. Why does this fellow talk like that? Hes blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?

Immediately Jesus knew in His Spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, Why are you thinking these things?

Thats kind of spooky, right? Somebody is reading your mind and answering your questions before you have spoken them, thats a little spooky. That right away is going to cause you to be alert and pay attention. How in the world can He read my mind?

He says, Which is easier to say to the paralytic? Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take your mat and walk?

I would think He would say, Which is harder? Because those are really hard things. One is to remove sin. The second is to cause a paralyzed person to walk. Only God can do either one of those things. I would say theyre both hard, but from Christs perspective, it was which is easier?

But you might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins… Arise, take up your mat and walk, and He calls Himself the Son of Man. The Son of Man was a messianic title. Daniel writes about the Son of Man who receives a kingdom from the ancient of days in the Book of Daniel.

When He takes that title, Son of Man, to Himself, He is immediately putting Himself in a messianic role, a messianic light. Theyre not happy about this. They are very upset. Youd think theyd be happy that a paralyzed man could walk, but they are upset that Jesus said, Im going to forgive your sins. They go back home, and they tell their friends about whats going on. Then there is a party. There is a conversion. Levi (or Matthew) comes to Christ. He still has a lot of friends who arent too Godly, and he invites his friends and Jesus and His followers to his house; and they have this Matthew party, this mingling of Christ-followers and sinners.

The Pharisees see this, and they become upset. Theyre thinking, Well, if this guy wants to be on the in-crowd, if He wants to be a teacher and one of us, then He cant hang around with people like this, but He does. He hangs around with people that wont spend the time of day with Him. They look down on Him. They look upon with disdain. He actually enjoys their company. He talks with them, and Hes friends with them.

Theyre like, Doesnt Jesus know who these people are?

Jesus says, You know, I came not to save the righteous, but sinners. I came not to save those who think theyre all right with God, that theyre great. I came to save those who desperately know about their sin and their need for God.

Then there is another event that takes place in Verse 23. Theyre walking through a field, and its the Sabbath Day. Theyre hungry, and McDonalds is closed (congregation laughing). What are you going to do? Its the Middle East, youre hungry, and heres a field. That law permitted you to take it. You couldnt use a sickle, but you could break it off with your hand. The law allowed that, but it was the Sabbath Day; and according to them, that was work. That was work. The Pharisees said, Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?

You see, God had said dont work on the Sabbath, and then they wrote an oral tradition or a commentary on that. They would write volumes of this oral law, which was based on their interpretation of what God had said. God had said, Dont work on the Sabbath, so they would write volumes and volumes of what was work and what wasnt work. This is work. Heres how far you can walk. You can walk as far as you can throw a stone. You can do this. You can lift that. You cant lift anything that weighs more than this. They wrote all these oral traditions, and then they tried to put that on the same plane of Scripture. Their oral law or their interpretation or commentary, they had the same respect for and esteem as the Word of God; so when Jesus broke the law, He wasnt breaking Gods law. He was breaking mans law. He was breaking their oral tradition. They understood the letter of the law, but they didnt understand the spirit of the law. Jesus talks about David, and He says, When David and his men were hungry, it was the Sabbath. They went into the tabernacle, and the priest gave them bread, so you can see theres precedence for doing this on the Sabbath. Youd think, Oh, okay. Everything is fine. Hes just trying to make a lesson. Hes saying, The spirit of the Sabbath is its for man to have rest. When you say you cant work on the Sabbath and picking grain is work, mans need to eat overrides your command not to work. Mans need to eat is more important, so you need to understand the spirit of the law.

I bought a bed many years ago locally from a man. I bought a used bed for my mom. It was in really nice shape, so I purchased it, and it was the Sabbath. It was a Saturday. His religion said you cant work on the Sabbath, so this guy watched me as I hauled this large bed out of his house by myself. Im winding down the staircase and bumping into walls. A couple times he reached out to try to steady me or help me, and then hed remember and say, Oh, Id like to help you, but I cant. Its the Sabbath. I cant work on the Sabbath. He watched me take it out to the car and put it on the roof. He gave me some rope, but he couldnt help me put it around the mattress. It would have been a lot easier if somebody could have thrown me the rope, but instead I had to do it myself, walk around the car, and loop it again. It took a long time. It was a hard job to do by myself. When it was done, I was sweaty, tired, bruised and bloody (congregation laughing). Finally I get done, and he says, You know, Im really sorry, but its the Sabbath, and I couldnt help you. I remember thinking, You know, is that really what Jesus would have done? I think if Jesus would have been there, He would have said, Either you help him or I will. Thats not the spirit of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is you need to have some rest, and youre missing the point. Youre missing the point, and Jesus makes the point here. He says, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is here to serve us, so that we are rested and recuperated. We are not here to serve it. You have your priorities all mixed up.

If he had left it at that, theyd say, Point taken. They probably wouldnt have been offended. They probably wouldnt have been upset. They probably would have said, Yeah, thats fine. But then He goes and He throws a punch. He says something thats going to irritate them to no end. He says, So the Son of Man… There He goes again calling Himself the Son of Man. the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

He didnt have to say that. Hes throwing that in for good measure. Do you realize what Hes saying here? Ill illustrate it this way. Are any of you watching March Madness right now? You have your brackets? Im sure your final four is intact still, right? I almost missed church Saturday night because I was watching that Butler game with my little brackets, Hurry up! I have to get to church! So we have March Madness. Well, basketball was invented by Dr. Naismith in Massachusetts in the late 1800s at a YMCA. The director said, Hey, come up with an inside game for the winter, so he thought about it, and he came up with the sport of basketball. It had two peach baskets that he nailed about 10 feet high to the wall at each end of the gym. They used a soccer ball, and you couldnt dribble. You could only pass. He wrote up 13 rules, and the goal was to throw the soccer ball into the peach basket, and the sport of basketball was invented; so he wrote all those rules, and eventually the game began to evolve and change. Dr. Naismith was a part of that. In fact, he was the first coach and founded the basketball program in Kansas, the Jayhawks-one of the most told story traditions in college basketball. He was their first coach for a long time. Can you imagine the referee blowing a whistle and making a call, and Dr. Naismith protests the call? The ref comes over and starts explaining the rules of basketball. Well, heres what he did wrong. He did this or this. Dr. Naismith could put his hands on his hips and go, You know what? Do you know who youre talking to? Do you know I invented this sport? Do you know this was my idea? Do you know I wrote the rules of basketball, and you wouldnt be playing this game without me? Do you understand that? So make the right call!

Jesus is saying, Listen, youre telling me the rules of the Sabbath and what I can and cannot do on the Sabbath. Guess what? I invented the Sabbath? The Sabbath came from Me. This is My idea. Im the Lord of it. It came out of My head. This is My stuff, so dont tell Me what you can and cant do on the Sabbath when the Sabbath was my idea! That is a bold, blatant assertion and a blasphemous one unless its true, so they are going to be angry. Talk about stirring up the hornets nest. Theyre going to be mad.

So now theyre going to set up a plot to try to capture Jesus. The Gospel of Luke makes it clear that the story we are about to read was a sting. Theyre trying to catch Jesus. Now remember you cannot work on the Sabbath, and that included healing. To heal was work, so you didnt heal on the Sabbath. They take a man who has a birth defect on his hand. Hes probably lived with it all his life. Hes been ashamed of it; its caused him embarrassment. Theyre going to use this crippled man as a pawn, and its shameless. Jesus is going to be very angry. They take the man and they put him in the front row of the synagogue, knowing that when Jesus sees him, Hes going to want to heal him.

Mark 3 (page 993), there is the man with the withered hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watch Him closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, Id like to help you, but its the Sabbath, so I cant. Come back Sunday.

He said, Stand up in front of everyone. Then Jesus asked them, Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?

He throws it back in their faces because they are waiting for Him to heal so they can say, You Sabbath breaker! Youre against the law! But if they say, Its right to do good on the Sabbath. Its right to save a life on the Sabbath, then theyre realizing theyre playing right in to His hands. Then basically His healing was justified. But if they say, Do evil on the Sabbath or kill on the Sabbath, theyre making themselves out to look bad; so either they have to admit they are wrong or they have to look really bad, so they choose to remain silent and not answer.

He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts… In other words, these people are happy or theyre going to become angrier about Him breaking the law than happy that a man who is crippled is now whole.

Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Thats significant. The Herodians and the Pharisees did not like each other. They were not friends. They werent like worlds apart, but the Herodians really followed Herod, and Herod of course is seen as a puppet of Rome. The Pharisees, theyre not about that at all. They would much prefer their independence, but you know what? They have this common enemy, so were going to join forces to try to stop Him.

Im not about to be political in what Im about to say-even though this is a political issue, Im not going to express any opinions on it; but I have never seen such a divide right now as Im seeing in our country. Theres this health reform issue, and some are saying this is the best legislation in decades; and others are saying, Well, this is a downward slope of big government, and this is really bad. Theres a movement called The Tea Party. In this movement, there are Reagan Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, just kind of a conglomeration of people. It says, Normally, we vote for different parties. We have different thoughts and ideas, but out of our disdain for big government, high taxes, and so forth, we are going to unite and try to fight against that. Im not trying to voice an opinion one way or another. Im just simply saying this is whats going on. So its very similar-the Herodians, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the priests-they dont normally associate together, but out of their disdain for Jesus, theyre going to start to join forces because now they have a common enemy that they want to silence.

Well, over time the gloves came off. In John 8, and we dont have time to go in to all of this, there is a conflict. There is a discussion about who are the true children of Abraham, and they resort to name calling. They call Jesus a Samaritan, which is a racial slur-half Jew/half Gentile. They tell them that He is demon-possessed. Jesus responds by saying that you are of your father, the devil, who is a liar, and if I speak anything other than what I am saying, I am a liar just like you. Its fair to say that the gloves have come off. Jesus talks about Abraham and says, He rejoiced to see My day. He saw it and was glad, and they say, Youre not even 50 years old, and Youve seen Abraham?

He says, Before Abraham was born, I am. He takes the covenant name of Jehovah or Yaweh to Himself, calling Himself, I am.

[Jesus critics are thinking], Thats all we need to hear. Thats blasphemy. They take up stones, and they try to kill Him. Jesus escapes. There is no more Mr. Nice Guy. This is all out war that is taking place here.

In Chapter 9, again Jesus heals a blind man on the Sabbath, drawing the ire or the religious leaders. This man has to be stopped.

In Chapter 10, the conflict ensues. Verse 22, its the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. That is a time when they celebrate the cleansing of the temple, and they celebrate their independence. That was Independence Day. They had been ruled by the Greeks, and then the Greeks broke in to four parts. One of the parts was Syria, and there was as Syrian leader who was really in love with himself and hated God. He called himself Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus set himself up as God in the temple. He made an altar, and he began to persecute and kill the Jews. If you were circumcised, he would kill you. He just ran a campaign of terror against the Jewish people and Jewish faith, and they took it because he was powerful. He had an army, but when he set up an altar in the temple and he sacrificed a pig to the god, Zeus, to mock the living God of the Jews, they said, Thats all we can take. There was a revolt, and a father and his sons revolt-the Maccabees. They organize the Israelites, and there is a fight, and they defeat Antiochus. They defeat him. They restore the temple, and they restore their government, and that would last for a hundred years until Rome took over. Once again, they would be under the oppression of a foreign power.

They are celebrating this important day. Thats Hanukah-its the Feast of Lights, the Festival of Lights, and that's what theyre celebrating. They come to Jesus, and they say in Verse 24 (of John Chapter 10, page 1062), The Jews gathered around Him, How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus said, I did tell you, and you do not believe.

He was always having to tell them things over and over again. In the Book of Mark where we were just at, He is opening the eyes of the blind. Hes opening the ears of the deaf. Hes causing the crippled to walk, and then the Jews say, Give us a sign. Can you give us a sign?

He says, I did give you a sign. Here He says, Ive told you, but if you dont believe Me, believe the miracles that I do in My Fathers name.

[Word for word from John 10], You do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

Now look at Verse 28. What does He say here? I give them eternal life. Do you realize what He just said? Who gives eternal life? God. This is again a statement of deity. He is saying, Im giving them eternal life.

…and no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Fathers hand. I and My Father are good friends and very close? No, He says, I and My Father are One.

Now there are some who will try to get you to believe that Jesus never proclaimed to be God, never claimed equality with God, never claimed deity. They dont understand. Apparently they havent read this passage. When you read them this passage, theyll say, Well, One means agreement. Hes just saying, I and the Father are in agreement. Really? Well, who knows better-you or the people who were alive at the time and heard the words of Christ, who knew the language? Were going to find out from their reaction exactly what Jesus meant.

Again, the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus said to them, I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?

Theyre not just going to throw stones at Him, friends. Theyre trying to kill Him.

We are stoning You. In other words, Youre going to die right now. Youre going to die. …not for any of these, but for blasphemy because You, a mere man, claim to be God.

They understood full well the statement that He was making. When there was blasphemy, there was to be a trial, but were going to wave all of that. Were going to wave the trial. Were going to wave due process, and were just going to kill You right now because You are so guilty of blasphemy.

Jesus escapes their mitts. Then a climax in His ministry: His friend Lazarus dies in Chapter 11. Jesus comes on the scene, and He raises him from the dead after four days. Its a miracle that not even His enemies can refute.

After the miracle Jesus popularity is going to reach new heights. I mean it is amazing. Theyre going to tell everybody. The news is going to spread. Emails are going to go out; Facebook, Twitter-everybody is going to know (congregation laughing). This news begins to spread.

It says, Therefore, many of the Jews came to visit Mary… This is Mary, the sister of Martha. …and had seen what Jesus did and put their faith in Him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. This is the Congress and the Supreme Court rolled into one. The chief priest would have all the power of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and he had executive power. He had legislative power, so this is the most powerful group of men. Its gone from this little group of conspiracy guys-these powerful Jews-to the most powerful group in all the land. They plot together what theyre going to do.

What are we accomplishing? they asked. Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. Take away our place and our nation-oh, now the truth comes out. Now we get it. Its not about the greatness of God and how important His word is. They were worried about their place. They were worried about their prominence. They were going to lose their power. They were going to lose their influence.

So what if Hes the Messiah? So what if Hes raising the dead and opening the eyes of the blind? If He became powerful and the Messiah, they were going to lose their place. They would have to admit they were wrong and He was right; so they chose the temporal over the eternal. If you think that sounds crazy, people do it all the time. People make that choice all the time.

If Im going to say Christ is right, Im going to have to admit Im wrong; and I dont want to do that. If Im going to say Christ is Lord, that means Im not Lord of my own life. I have my own little agenda. I have my own little kingdom.

What happens is Jesus becomes a threat to your power, so you refuse to come to Christ. There are people who refuse to come to Jesus no matter how much proof, no matter how much teaching you give them. They wont come because it usurps their power and authority, and they dont want to bow their knee to anybody or anything; so they choose the temporal over the eternal. It happens all the time, so that was what they chose. The truth began to come out.

Verse 49, Then one of them named Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, spoke up, You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. This is a very interesting verse.

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not only for the nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one, so from that day on they plotted to take His life.

Heres this man who was against Christ, the enemy of Christ-he wanted to kill Christ-and God was using his mouth to prophesy. That shows the sovereignty of God, doesnt it? That shows the providence of God at work.

Therefore, Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews, but instead He withdrew to a region near the desert…

Now, Passover is coming-the big feast. Everybody is going to be in Jerusalem, and the rumors begin to stir. The Pharisees begin asking themselves, Do you think Hell come? Do you think Hell show His face?

I dont think He will.

They have scouts that are looking for Him. If He came, you were supposed to tell the Pharisees so they could go and capture Him. Many thought He wouldnt come at all, but then He came.

John 12:12 (page 1065) is the triumphal entry that we are remembering this Sunday, Palm Sunday. The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the King of Israel!

Hosanna meant, Save us now! or Lord, save us! It was not just a cry of religious worship. It was a political desire. We want You to be our King! We want You to restore what was lost, the independence that we once had. We want that back. You raised the dead! You must be the Messiah. You be our leader! You help us!

Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written… and He quotes from the Prophet Zachariah. This prophesy is fulfilled that day. Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your King is coming, seated on a donkeys colt.

Hundreds of years after that prophesy was written, Christ fulfilled that. He came in on a donkey as their King. The sad truth is that many of these people who were once saying, Hosanna, God save us! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, are going to be jeering Him and mocking Him as He carries His cross and as He is crucified. Why? Because He did not act as they thought He should act. The Messiah should reign forever, right? And He is going to die on a cross. He cant possibly be who He said He was. Their love was a conditional love.

Sadly, there are those who embrace Christ and say, Youre the Lord. Were going to follow You. Youre going to deliver me, and when Christ does not act as they think He should act, when He does not do what they think a King should do, they abandon their faith. They abandon their Lord. The One that they once professed to serve, they now curse. That happens today too. There are still people when God does not meet their expectations-what they expect for Him to do-they turn their backs upon Him. That's what this crowd did.

Were going to watch right now a media song by Michael W. Smith. It talks about this very thing. (Heres a link to the video: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/sy-815915896/michael_w_smith_secret_ambition_official_music_video/)

Would you bow with me in prayer this morning, please?

I want to pray first of all for those who I was describing when I said that youve rejected Christ because that would mean somebody else is Lord of your life besides You. That would mean that you were wrong, and someone else was right. This morning, if you are ready to remove yourself of that pride, and youre ready to receive Christ as your King, I invite you to pray this prayer with me now:

Father, in Heaven, I come to You in Jesus name. I acknowledge that You are Lord. I ask You to forgive my sin, cleanse me from the inside out, and make me new. Give to me Your Holy Spirit to empower me, to help me to live a life that pleases You. I want to serve You from this day forward till the day I die-that one day I might live with You in Your Kingdom. Thank You for dying for my sins. Thank You that the grave could not hold You and You are Lord. I receive You now as my King.

Father, those who have prayed that prayer, Youve answered that prayer because that same Jesus who walked those streets is alive today. Hes still saving souls and touching lives. I pray also for those who claim to be believers, but they love You with an unconditional love. When You do not meet up to their expectations, many of them have deserted You, I pray that this would be the weekend when they return-that they would confess, Lord, their abandonment and they would receive You as their sovereign King and Lord. Lord, we have so much to learn and so much to remember this holiday season, but I pray it will be a time for spiritual renewal for many. We will come to know, understand and appreciate what You accomplished for us through Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.

Pastor Jeff Williams: March 21, 2010

Meet the Ephesians, Part XXV: Tychicus: Portrait of a Servant.

We are going to be finishing up Ephesians this morning. We have been in this series forever, forever! But you know the nice thing about Ephesians is were always changing topics. Each chapter, each verse, theres something new to talk about. I hope when you go back through the Book-and that you will do that-youre going to remember, Oh, yeah. I remember about that person. Yeah, I remember about that situation. I hope itll just come alive to you. Thats my hope and prayer.

Lets pray together:

Father, as we now come to the Book of Ephesians again, were thankful for this series that weve been on-this journey, the things that we have learned and discovered about ourselves and discovered about Your Word, and about this important strategic church-about how they change from Pagan idol worship and the worship of the goddess, Diana, the goddess Artemis, to the worship of the living God. We learned about how the struggles they faced are the struggles we face and how they overcame. Lord, again this morning as we close out this series, Father, help us to understand Your Word, apply Your Word indulgently, and live it out. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

The year was 1974. I was a freshman at Rockford East High School. I was part of the basketball team there. We had a very stiff competition in our school. Our school was a large school. There were 900 and some plus in my freshman class alone, so it was very competitive when it came time for sports. Thered be over 60 boys that would try out for that freshman team. We were very successful. We won in almost every sport there was-track, wrestling, basketball, football. We were a power house in the city. Our football team was undefeated. They dominated all the Chicago schools. Ten guys from that team played Division 1 football. Four guys were drafted by the NFL from one team. One of them played here in Wisconsin, Ira Matthews. He played for the Badgers. We just dominated.

A young man by the name of Brad Muzzarelli became hooked on Rockford East athletics. He really couldnt play sports. He was a little bit slow. He was a special needs student there at the school. He was a short, stocky guy-not athletic at all. He was just a little bit different. Muzzy was a nice kid, but you could just tell that he was just a little bit different from the rest of us. He got so attached to athletics that he decided he was going to be the manager year after year on our basketball team and our football team. He was very faithful, but I cant say that we really esteemed him. I cant say we really valued him. He was just a manager, and we looked at him like, Were the stars. Were the athletes. Were the important ones. Youre just the manager. Youre the guy that fills our water bottles. Youre the guy that gets our towels and picks up our towels when were done with them. Youre the guy that gets the basketballs for us. Youre Muzzy. We were nice to him. We were respectable to him, but it was more like, Hey, Muzzy, get my towel. Hey Muzzy, this ball is flat. Put some air in it, would you, buddy? Hey Muzz, can you get some more water here? Im out. So Muzz was kinda like our servant, you know? He was going around filling things and taking care of things. The coach would say, Hey, Muzzy. I forgot my whistle on my desk. Could you go get it? Hey, Muzzy. How many time outs do we have left in this half? Muzzy was always there. You could always count on the Muzz. Season after season, year after year, Muzzy was on the sidelines. Muzzy was on the bench. Muzzy was in the practice. We got to know Muzz. He was just a part of the school. Youd see him in his letter jacket. He wore it with such pride. In 1976-he was two years older than I-it was his graduating class. I remember being a senior and seeing Muzzy still hanging around. I was thinking 1976 and 1978, You graduated two years ago. Muzzy, what are you still doing here? How long are you going to do this high school thing, Muzz? Hed just smile and laugh, but he was still serving as a manager. I didnt think too much about high school after I graduated. I didnt really follow the athletic history there. I lost track of Mr. Muzzarelli.

I certainly kept contact with some of my friends, and this past week we were getting together to do our NCAA picks-the annual trash talking and all that. I drove to Rockford, and we sat down at the restaurant. We filled out our brackets together as weve been doing since 1982. They said, You know Muzzy died.

I said, Youre kidding! He was 52 years old. I said, How did Muzzy die?

They said he died of cancer. They said, You know, up until his death, he was still the manager for the basketball and the football teams.

I said, Youve got to be kidding me!

They said, No, they just had a big banquet for him before he died-750 past coaches, alumni and athletes showed up and paid tribute to the man they called Muzzy. Theyre going to dedicate the football field to him. Its going to be called Brad Muzzarelli Field. How many athletes went through that place over the decades? Some of them made it to the pros, but there was never an athlete who put their name on the field.

It reminds me of a Scripture, The greatest among you shall be the servant of all, but we didnt recognize his greatness. He was just a kid in our minds who couldnt play sports, so he decided to be the manager. We appreciated him. He was part of the team, but [we thought], Hes not great like we are. Were athletes. He was far greater than we.

I went on home and I punched up Brad Muzzarelli, Rockford East, on my computer and started reading these attributes and obituaries. They talked about how for 38 years, he served that sports program-coach after coach. They said, Nobody had a heart as big as Muzzy. Nobody served like Muzzy. Anything I needed, he kept the program running smoothly. He never asked for a thing. He was just delighted to wear the Rockford East shirt, sport the team colors, and serve the team any way he could. Muzzy was a servant.

Were going to talk about another Muzzy this morning. Were going to talk about a Muzzy of the New Testament that you may have never heard of before this Sunday. His name is Tychicus.

I went to a pastor friend of mine this weekend. We were just talking, and I said, Yeah, Im going to preach on Tychicus this week.

He said, Who?

I said, Tychicus.

Who?

Pauls companion, Tychicus.

Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He didnt even know who Tychicus was. Yet he is an important part of Scripture. Hes one who Ive always valued his ministry. I think when were done this morning, you will too; so lets read as Paul closes out this Book as he writes from his prison cell to the church that he founded so many years ago. Verse 21 (page 1160 of pew Bibles), Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage you.

I want you to notice how close Tychicus was to the heart of Paul. He calls him his dear brother and his faithful servant. You dont get a title like that over night. You get a title like that when you have proven yourself over the years to be a faithful friend and a faithful servant of the Kingdom. That's not a title that Paul bestowed on everybody. Its not a title he took lightly. Tychicus had earned that title through his years of service to the Apostle Paul, so we look at this banner over here to my left, we see this is Paul in the prime of his ministry. This is Paul doing some wonderful things in Ephesus. Guess whos there? The Book of Acts tells us that amongst the people that are there is Tychicus. Hes there when revival breaks out in Ephesus. Hes there in some of the prime years of the Apostle Pauls ministry-faithful friend. We also see and read-were not going to turn there-but in the Book of 2 Timothy, Paul has reached the end of his life. Hes an old man. He is in prison. Nero is in charge of Rome. Soon Nero will sentence Paul to death. He will be beheaded under the reign of Emperor Nero and his persecution against the Christian Church. Peter will die as well. There from that prison cell, Paul writes the Book of 2 Timothy. He tells Timothy, who is now the elder of the church in Ephesus, I am going to send Tychicus to you. So Tychicus is there at the end of Pauls ministry as well. Hes there when Paul is in his prime, and hes there when Paul is at his end-longevity.

Our church has a lot of Tychicuses. You may have come for years and not know their names or have seen their faces, but theyre here. Theyre working behind the scenes every Sunday, month after month, year after year, faithfully serving. Theyre in the tech booth. Its Chip in the recording studio whos been doing that job for about 20 years. Theyre in our nursery. Theyre greeting you. Theyre ushers. Theyre in the childrens church. Theyre in the youth ministry. Theyre behind the scenes in prayer ministry. Everywhere you look, there are Tychicuses around this place, and they are faithfully serving. You might go on the website and see my mug shot. You think of my face, but you know what really makes this church tick? No pun intended or maybe a little bit of a pun intended-I think thats what his nickname was-Tick. What really makes this annual report with all these wonderful stories happening, its not me-its the people that are out there serving anonymously, behind the scenes, faithfully over the long haul, serving the Lord, Jesus Christ, and serving His church. There are a lot of them.

And just like Muzz, you dont recognize that greatness, but over the years, I have come to just appreciate so much the faithful servants of this body who make this church what it is, who make it successful. Now the glory goes to God, but God is using a lot of good people who are very faithful. Tychicus was that guy, a faithful friend that could be trusted by the Apostle, Paul. He was in it for the long haul; from beginning to end, he was somebody that Paul could count on. He was a confidant.

I want you to notice what is here and also in the Book of Colossians 4. Lets turn there. Colossians 4:7 (page 1167 of pew Bibles), we want to talk about that second attribute in the portrait of a servant, and that is loyalty. Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister or deacon and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus… Remember that? The weekend we talked about slavery? The slave who left Philemon became liberated; he then went back to Philemon-remember that story? …our faithful and dear brother who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

So he was a confident to Paul. There was nothing you couldnt learn-it was as if Paul was there. He was a spokesman for the Apostle, Paul. Anything you wanted to know about Paul, anything you wanted to know about his ministry, Tychicus could tell you. He was Pauls representative. He was Pauls liaison in the ministry. Tychicus was loyal, loyal.

You know as we look over here in this Passage, the top frame here shows what happens before a riot breaks out. Paul is teaching, and theres a man holding up an idol. Hes a silversmith. He makes those idols for a living, and hes very upset with Paul. Hes very upset because people are converting to Christianity, and theyre not buying his trinkets anymore. Theyre not buying the little replicas of the temple of Artemis. Theyre not buying the little statues of Artemis the goddess anymore. He and the other tradesmen, theyre piggy banks are going broke, so he comes and he starts a riot. He stirs up the crowd as Pauls ministry is just beginning to take off. He says, This man is against the goddess, because he was attacking the very economy. This was the center of the economy for that region. A riot breaks out, and Tychicus is there.

Down here, revival takes place. Theres a fire there. Thats not a campfire. That's not wood. Those are scrolls that are burning there. Those are magic spells and incantations that the people used to offer up to the goddess, Artemis. Theyre burning them-millions and millions of dollars worth of spells and incantations that they had purchased are burning up. They start to put their hope and trust in the living God. Revival breaks out in Ephesus, and Tychicus is there. See that boat right there? Theyre saying good-bye in Acts 20 to the elders in the church in Ephesus. Theyre taking off for Rome. Tychicus is on that boat. Theyre going to go through a shipwreck and Tychicus is there. Eventually, theyre going to arrive in Rome, and hes there as well. He is a loyal man of God. He is with Paul when things are going great and revival breaks out. He is with Paul in the riots. He is with Paul in the prison. He is with Paul in the shipwreck. Thats a servant. A servant is loyal in good times and bad.

Muzzy served the people of East when we were winning state championships, and Muzzy was there when they did the redistricting. The population of the school dropped to a thousand or fewer, and we became terrible in sports-just awful in sports. Muzzy was there in the good times and the bad times. If Muzzys that loyal to a high school sports program, how much more loyal should we be to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords when things are hard and when things are going well? When revival is happening, when spiritual life seems dry, a servant is faithful. He is a trusted confidant.

Do you know how you have longevity? You serve Jesus Christ first. Tychicus could keep faithful over the long haul because he was loyal first and foremost not to Paul, not to the church, but to Jesus Christ. How do you stay loyal in ministry over the long haul? You dont serve man; you dont serve a denomination; you dont serve a structure, a building. You serve the Lord, Jesus Christ; and that keeps you going over the long haul because you know He didnt give up on you. He was faithful to you. When times got hard, Jesus didnt quit on you, so you make that determination. You say, Im not going to quit on Him. You serve first and foremost the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Because you serve the Lord, you dont have to have pats on the back. Theyre nice, but you dont have to have them. You dont have to have the limelight because you are content as a servant to put the spotlight where it belongs, and that's on the name of Jesus. That was Tychicus. Thats the kind of guy he was. He was loyal. He was so loyal to Paul; Paul had disclosed to him everything. Paul said, He will tell you everything about me. He had total and complete trust in Tychicus because he had proven himself over the decades to be loyal and faithful. Would that be said of us-that we are loyal to the Lord, Jesus, and loyal to the cause of the Gospel-that we are servants like this man?

Theres a third aspect I want to talk about. I want you to turn to the Book of Titus 3 with me (page 1182 of pew Bibles). Titus was written, of course, to Titus. Titus is a pastor. He is an elder of a church that Paul started on the island of Crete. He is writing him. Paul wants to meet with Titus. How is he going to meet with Titus? He says in Verse 12, As soon as I sent Artemas, not Artemis-the goddess. This means gift of the goddess, so this was a man who was probably raised in a Pagan family, worshipping Artemis and now had converted to Christianity. Tychicus probably did too, by the way. Tychicus was raised in Asia, so in Asia Minor, he probably worshipped the goddess, Artemis, himself; so these two former goddess worshippers are now followers of Christ. He says, Im going to send them to you. Do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. In other words, as soon as Tychicus gets there, then you come to me. Think about the versatility of this guy. I mean he is doing everything. How do you think these letters got to 2 Timothy, Colossians, Ephesians, Colossae, Crete? How did they get there? Tychicus brought them. He was the messenger, church tradition tells us. He was the bearer of the letter. Howd you like to have that responsibility? Wow! Youre boarding a boat to sail to Crete, and your cargo is the literal Book of Titus, the literal Word of God, and its entrusted to your care. Talk about responsibility. You dont want to get that thing wet! Paul doesnt have a backup on his computer. He hasnt Xeroxed a bunch of copies. This is it-that one parchment that is tucked under his cloak next to his heart is the only copy of the Word of God. Hes going to bring that to the church in Crete. Hes going to carry the letter Ephesians that we have just studied for months. He is going to carry that with him. Hes from Asia. He says, You know Asia? You carry this letter. This letter is going to be circular. Its understood to be circular. Its going to go to all the churches of Asia Minor, not just Ephesus. You are trusted with carrying literal Scripture-at that time, the only copy of that manuscript, so he was a messenger. He was also somebody who was there to deliver a message. He was a spokesperson. He was the point-person for Pauls ministry. When Tychicus gets there, he will tell you everything.

Paul was going through a lot, and there was a lot he could say about himself, but that was not the purpose of the letter. The purpose of the letter was to address doctrinal concerns, to address heresies, to encourage the church, to keep them on track. The letter was about them-not Paul, so when Tychicus came, he would give them personal information about the Apostle Paul and his ministry.

Hes also there to encourage. He says in both passages, He will encourage you, so he is to wear the hat of an encourager. He must have been a positive person. He wasnt there going, Well, you know, Pauls in prison. Were all going to die. It aint looking good. Pray for us because the Gospel just aint doing anything right now. That wouldnt encourage a soul. Tychicus is going over there and saying, Listen, even though Paul is in prison, here are the letters he is writing, and here are the things that are happening in the churches. Here are the people who are stepping up. Here is whats going on. Theres revival breaking out in the prison where Paul is changing these guards. He would just tell them the whole story. He would encourage them. Now we find in the Book of Titus, this guy who is content to be behind the scenes-nobody knows his name-now, for a period of time, is going to be the interim elder at the church in Crete so that Titus can go and see Paul.

Some even believe in 2 Timothy he sent Tychicus to Ephesus to relieve Timothy because hed done such a good job in Crete, so now hes going to replace Timothy for a little while so Timothy can go and visit Paul in prison. He was the kind of guy behind the scenes. I guarantee you Tychicus was the kind of guy who said, Anything you need me to do, Paul-anything you need me to do… Ill be your messenger. Ill be your mouthpiece. Ill be your encourager. Ill be a point-person, so these guys can come and see you. Ill travel the miles. Ill scale the mountains. Ill sail the sea. Ill do whatever it takes to serve the cause of Christ. Thats the kind of servant he was.

Thats called flexibility, and thats the third important attribute of a servant. Longevity-hes in it for the long haul from coming in; loyalty, in the good and the bad, hes there-hes faithful; and flexibility. We understand we operate our church on the areas of spiritual gifts and passion. I understand that, but its the kind of person who says, Hey, we really need you to do this. Were running late or we need some more chairs. Can you set up some chairs?

Actually, help is not on my GPS. I took my test, and thats not what I do.

Hey, the nursery worker didnt show up. There are crying kids. Can you just take five minutes in the nursery until the leaders get here?

Ah, thats not my calling.

Thats not the kind of [person who is a servant for God].

You ask him to do something, and he comes up with 1,001 excuses why they cant do something. Its kind of like this fellow here.

This is a tragic story of a hiker, a woman who is trapped in the woods. A big tree has fallen on her. Shes in need of help, and she just encounters the wrong guy-not flexible at all. Lets take a look at this. (Link can be found here: http://www.bluefishtv.com/Store/Downloadable_Video_Illustrations/2904/Not_An_Expert/f=s1&s=not%20an%20expert).

Quite an ending, right? Heres Tychicus. Hes like, I just want to be behind the scenes.

Paul says, Im going to send you to Crete. Youre going to pastor the church for Titus while he comes and sees me.

Tychicus says, I dont have any former theological training. No, he just does it. He just does it.

That's what a servant does. A servant is flexible. A servant says he understands, Heres what my prime gift is in. Heres what Im passionate in, but there are times that we serve outside of our gifting simply because theres a need, and it needs to be met-a servants heart.

I am so grateful in our church for all you Tychicuses out there, and I hope that this sermon has been something thats helped you to realize how valuable you are. Youre the oil that keeps us going and the glue that helps hold us together. Im so grateful that the Holy Spirit has sent so many faithful servants to our body who are faithful, loyal, committed to the cause of Christ here in Janesville for the long haul. Would you join me in prayer as we thank God?

Father, were thankful today for the lesson of Tychicus. Hes a man who was so integral to the ministry of Paul and carried these letters for many, many miles. We owe him a debt of gratitude, yet up until this morning, many of us had never, ever heard his name. He was content to be behind the scenes. He was content to let the spotlight shine on someone else, but his work is incredibly valuable. Lord, for the Tychicuses out there, I thank You. I thank You for their faithful service-for their loyalty, their longevity, their flexibility. Lord, as we serve You together, weve seen You do some amazing, wonderful things. We pray that they would continue to serve You faithfully, knowing it is You they serve and not man. Thank You for the lessons that we have learned in Ephesians, the many weeks, the many months we have spent studying this Book. That has changed us. We take those lessons with us, and might Your Holy Spirit empower us to live out the message of this letter. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Right now, were going to get back in to Ephesians. We are in Chapter 6 together. We have one more week after this week, and the Book of Ephesians will be wrapped up. Were talking about spiritual warfare, and weve spent several weeks now [on this topic]. This is our third week on that chapter, and were talking about the opposition that the church encounters; and Paul here, as he calls himself, an Ambassador in Chains, writes from prison in Rome. He concludes his letter by talking about these unseen forces that are working against the purposes and plan of God. Theyre an opposition to the teaching and the work of the church.

I had an opportunity this past week to play in a father/son game at my daughters school. Even though I dont have a son at this school, I have a daughter; and if you have a daughter playing basketball there, then the dads are welcome to play in that game. So I was reminded of a couple things. Number one, the game was for fun-it was just an exhibition game-but I was also reminded that the fathers have never lost to the sons and that this year should be no different. We should make sure that we have fun but make sure that we win, so during the game we started off a little slow, but we picked things up. We started to get a little bit of a lead, and then the ref kinda helped out. If the ball was gonna go out of bounds for the boys, theyd push it back in or theyd give them an extra free through, or theyd not call a foul that they should have called. They were just kinda helping the boys to stay in the game. It just seemed to me like no matter how many baskets we scored, it seemed to me like they were always closer than I thought they should be. I remember saying to the ref several times during the game, Are you sure that's the right score? Id just be scratching my head, thinking, It seems like we should be ahead by so much more than that. It got to the point where our regulation, we were tied. There was just a few seconds left, but we could lose the game, so our guys call a time-out. So we go, Okay, were going to set up a play. One of the dads says, Okay, were going to line up on the free throw line, and were going to form a wall. Well throw it in to you, and then were just gonna charge towards the boys. I was like, Are we playing football or what? But it was getting serious now. Then you dribble behind this wall, and then you make the winning basket.

Ill try. So we in bounded them. I go up to shoot, and this boy comes and just grabs my arm-not even close. He just grabs my arm. Im waiting for the whistle to shoot free throws, and no call-game overtime. Im thinking to the ref, Well, if youre not gonna call that, what in the world would you call? Why are you even here, you know? That was obviously a foul. So we go in to overtime, and again were scoring baskets, but yet we never can take a lead. It just seems like theyre always like two points down. What started off as being fun is now serious. Seventh and eighth graders are dropping. The body count is getting high. Elbows are being thrown, and its go time because you dont want to be a part of the first dads to ever lose. Finally, we eke out a win, and I remember just being really tired. I was thinking, This is supposed to be a fun exhibition game, and Im just exhausted. Thats when I found out about the conspiracy.

I was right about the rest, but it was more than that. The pastor came in, and hed say, Oh, I wanted to give a point to the boys every time the dads missed a shot. Or, Hey, that was a good shot. Give them three points. Or, That was a really good shot. Give the boys four points, so they were doctoring up the score, so youve got the referees, youve got the book keeper or the clock manager, and then youve got the pastor with the sinister plot of making the fathers lose. They were working behind the scenes-like you dont even know. You can see the evidence, but youre unaware of whats going on behind the scenes. Theyre all working together in this corrupt plan to defeat the dads, which they could not do by the way.

Paul is describing here a battle that is taking place. He says, As were seeking to advance the Kingdom, as were seeking to preach the Gospel, there are forces at work that you dont see. There is hierarchy behind the scenes, and they are seeking to oppose our mission. They are working against the purposes of the church. Youre going to encounter their opposition. You dont see them, but theyre there. Youll experience the evidence of their work, but be sure that they are behind the scenes. Paul says, Make sure you know that there is a concerted effort. There is opposition that is working against our purposes. He says, So you have to put on your armor. You have to be ready because the enemy is going to attack.

Now one thing thats important to understand is the context of this Scripture and about the armor. What he is saying is that Satan is going to attack the church and individuals as we seek to fulfill the purposes of God; as we seek to share the Gospel with the world, Satan will attack. That is what the point is. Its not about somebody who is not living for God or not living for the Gospel being attacked by the enemy. If youre not living out the Gospel, Satans probably not too worried about you. Whatever attacks youre going through are most likely of your own flesh and of your own doing; but the moment you begin to seek to build the Kingdom of God, to share the Gospel and live the Gospel, you will encounter opposition.

You might be stung by a bee. You might be out having a picnic or mowing your grass this summer, and a bee stings you. That happens, so Im not saying the enemy doesnt attack here or there; but you go to a bees nest and you shake it up, you try to get honey out of a bees nest, or you bang on that bees nest with a stick, whats going to happen? You agitate those bees-youre threatening them, they are going to come after you with everything theyve got. That hives gonna empty out, and those bees are gonna make a beeline for you-the threat, the enemy-to stop you from what youre doing. Have you ever looked at a beekeeper and watched how they operated, what do they do? How do they dress? The beekeeper is going to come out and get honey and tend to his bees. What does he wear? Does he wear flip-flips, a baseball cap, and a T-shirt? No. He has his bee-gear. He has his hat on which is screened. He has on a full uniform; he has gloves; he has boots, and he is equipped because when he goes to those bees, there are going to be some bees that are going to attack him. He knows hes going to be stung. The attack will happen.

So thats what Paul is saying. He is saying, Listen, if you are seeking to accomplish Gods purposes, you are rattling the nest. You are disturbing the hive. You are a threat to Satan, and he will attack you. He will attack individuals. He will attack churches. He will come against. We see evidence of that in our world today. We see evidence of his activity, so Paul says equip yourself. Dont pretend like you can go into this battle unequipped. Make sure you put on the armor of God. He talks about our headgear, our uniform, our boots and our swords, and all the things we use for defense and for offense as we accomplish Gods purpose. Thats the context of the Passage.

Now, lets go ahead and open up to Ephesians 6. Pastor Jerry left off at Verse 17, so we are going to begin with Verse 18 (page 1160 in pew Bibles). Were going to talk this morning about the benefits of prayer. We dont have to read very far in this Passage before you realize the importance of prayer to the Apostle Paul. He says, And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind…

What does he mean with this in mind? The warfare. The attacks. The opposition. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Before we talk about the benefits of prayer, were going to watch a media our production team has ready for us that talks about prayer. Lets listen. (Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTK57Pw6iPI)

Well, one thing about the Thyphone-they are on sale by the way in the foyer as you leave today. No matter how technology increases-you know we have the riding lawn mower, which is great; we have our remote controls; sadly, some of you even have the clapper. No matter how technology advances, prayer is going to remain old school. Prayer is not going to change. Prayer is going to always and forever be you talking to your Creator and your Creator talking to you. Its always going to be hard work too; but there are benefits to prayer, and we want to talk about those benefits this morning.

The first one is found in Verse 18. He says, And pray in the Spirit on all occasions… Praying in the Spirit… The Bible teaches us that when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, He gives to us His Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit, to come and reside within the heart and life of the believer. Through the Holy Spirit, we can talk to God, the benefit of prayer. By the way, some of you say, Well, why do we pray? Why does God even have prayer? If Gods sovereign-He can do anything He wants, Hes all powerful, Hes going to do His will anyway-why is prayer even necessary? I mean why does God require prayer or ask for prayer? Why doesnt God just do what He wants to do? Why does He instruct us to pray? You wouldnt think God would need prayer. Well, its not that God needs prayer; its that we need prayer. We need prayer for many reasons. Number one, we need prayer because its a means of fellowship with God. The only way you can have fellowship is through communication, and prayer is a form of communication. Communication works best when its two ways, when its reciprocal; when we pray, prayer is a two-way street. It is through prayer that we not only talk with God, but God talks with us. Its in times of prayer that we receive His wisdom. He imparts to us. Not every time do I pray that I sense a leading from God, but many times we do. Its through prayer that we have discernment of His will, and that comes through fellowship. He helps us to know what decision to make. We experience through prayer His presence. We get to know Him through prayer. It all has to do with fellowship.

Have you ever had someone in your life that you were close to at one time and you stopped communicating with them? Maybe they moved away, got another job, went to another church-whatever [it was] your means of communication seemed to leave. What happened in that relationship? You, over time, began to get more distant, right? Because you hardly ever communicated anymore. It seems like weeks turned in to months and months in to years. The next thing you know, if you encounter that person, boy, its almost like theyre a total stranger because there hasnt been communication. Prayer is how we stay in contact with the Lord, how the Lord never becomes a stranger to us because we are in communication. In prayer, we experience His presence. In prayer, we experience His guidance. In prayer, we experience His power, and that might be power to persevere in a struggle or it could be power to equip us to accomplish His purposes; but we experience His power in prayer. Thats the number one benefit of prayer-that it is fellowship with God. Its an opportunity for you and me to engage in dialogue.

Notice Paul says that that dialogue is to be ongoing. He says, Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, all the time. Keep on praying for the saints. Its not something that you cross off your list. You have lists you take with you, right? You accomplish a task. You go to the grocery store, and you cross it off your list. You get gas; you cross it off your list. You have an appointment; you cross it off your list. Prayer is not that. Prayer should never be on your list for you to cross off because prayer is to be a running dialogue. The people that you are close to in your life, you have a running dialogue with. You might have a running dialogue with your spouse, a running dialogue with your children, or a running dialogue with a close friend; so thats not something you cross off your list. Thats always on there. Its always happening, and God is inviting you and me to a constant communication. Thats what He means when He says pray without ceasing. It says that during our whole lives, prayer is a lifestyle. Its not an event. Its not an occasion.

Church, ideally, is bathed in prayer in everything they do, but some churches have prayer meetings every week. Thats wonderful as long as you dont cross prayer off the list as soon as thats done, Okay, were done with that for the week. Just like we do our exercise, Oh, I exercised. Im done with that for a couple days. No, no, no. Paul says were to pray all the time, pray without ceasing. That dialogue needs to always be running, always be ongoing.

Ill share with you a quick story Ive shared in the past. I didnt share it in any of the services except for this one. If youve heard this story before, and some of you probably have, Ill tell it quick. Its about a pastor by the name of Ken Meyer. He had an opportunity to share a room with a pastor of pastors at a leadership retreat. He was so excited to see this mans prayer life and see how he studied the Bible. He went to bed early that night. As he climbed into bed and he waited for this pastor of pastors to come in the room so he could observe quietly, he watched the man get ready for bed, crawl in his bed, pull the covers up over him, turn out the light and say, Good night, Lord. He thought to himself, What a rip-off! Ive been waiting for this, and all he says is good night, Lord. It was then he realized what he had just witnessed, that this man had had a dialogue with God all day long, so he wasnt coming to the end of a long day and having to kind of just dump all this out at one time; but he had been in a dialogue with the Lord all day long, so when he came to the end of the day, all he simply had to say was good night.

Paul is encouraging the believers to enter in to fellowship with the living God. He says, …and always be praying for all the saints. The second benefit of prayer is that it brings us into community with one another. Hes talking about saints that are involved in one anothers lives through prayer. Theyre praying for each other. Youve shared whats going on in your life, and you know whats going on in their life; and you are lifting up one another in prayer. It builds a spiritual bond. It builds a friendship that is strong.

I have a friend in our church that I meet with every week. We try to make sure we get together at least once a week to talk. We always talk about sports. One thing we have in common is our love of sports, but we talk about more than that. We talk about our marriages; we talk about our children; we talk about our jobs; we talk about matters of faith. We talk about difficulties were facing, and we commit to pray for each other. We do that every week. Weve done that for years and years, and Ive learned I can trust him. Hes learned he can trust me, and its not uncommon for me to get a text, a phone call or an email that says, Hey, pray about this. This is whats going on with me. Heres a problem that were facing. Ill call him to talk about that, or Ill call him and say, Hey, Ive been praying about it. Whats going on? Hows that going? Thats one of the benefits. You cant have that if youre in isolation, so when were praying, for one another, thats one of the ways God brings us in to community with each other. Were trying to not isolate [ourselves]. Were trying to not just be a lone ranger, but youre sharing your walk with your brothers and sisters in Christ; and youre building those bonds and those friendships so you grow in community.

Verse 19, Paul says, Dont worry about praying for me. Ive got everything under control. Theres no better speaker than I, and I am the greatest missionary of all time. So basically hes encouraging them to use their prayer for somebody else because he has the matter under control. Was Paul the greatest missionary ever? Yup, he was. Was he one of the greatest teachers of the Word of God ever? He was. But what does he do? Here in this Passage, he is asking for help. Prayer fosters humility because when you pray and when you seek prayer, when you seek to have others pray for you, what are you saying? Youre saying, I cant do it. Youre saying, I need help, and thats an act of humility.

It would be a crazy thing for a soldier to step on a battlefield and say, Well, I dont need my colleagues here. I dont need my fellow soldiers to watch my back, to watch against enemies fire, snipers and all of that. I can see everything, and I can take care of things myself. How foolish that soldier would be. He is dependent upon his fellow soldiers to watch his back, and he watches theirs. They advance together and they accomplish their mission together. Hes not haughty; hes not proud. The Bible says that prayer brings us into a spirit of humility. You cannot do the work of God; you cannot oppose those spiritual forces of darkness in high places in and of yourself. You cannot do ministry in and of your own strength and mind. How arrogant it is to think you can accomplish the work and ministry of God without Gods help.

You want to know a boring sermon? Its a sermon that has not been prayed for. The pastor has not come and sought Gods will and sought to hear Gods voice and prayed for Gods anointing and powers for Him to bring that message. Ive taught a few of those before. Theyre bad. You dont preach many of them because you learn really quickly. If you dont pray, it doesnt matter how funny your jokes are, how good your stories or illustrations are, what insights you think you have. If you havent prayed up, that is going to just be a disaster. People are going to be looking at their watch and falling asleep. Nobody [better] look at their watches now. I can see you. Ill use this if I have to.

But Ill tell you what-Ive been in places where I listened to a pastor, and maybe it was monotone or boring on the surface, but I can tell when hes been praying because youll get something out of that. Youll be moved by the Spirit. If a church wants to be effective for the Gospel, it has to be a praying church. We have pockets of prayer. We have people who pray, but were not where we should be. We know that. You can say, Well, what if this Passage was about you? What if Verse 18 was written about you? What do you think it would say? He says heres the Will of God. The Will of God is that you pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, and you pray [while being] so alert. What would you say if it was about you?

I pray in the Spirit sometimes. I pray in the Spirit when Im at church with everybody else or would it say, I never pray in the Spirit on really any occasion. I just dont pray. How would that description be if it were spoken of you today? Think about that.

If you dont like the answer, you know you can do something about that. You can change that. Through the help of the Spirit of God, you can become a person who enters in to fellowship with God through prayer, community with other believers through prayer who have humble spirits, who obey the Lord, who grow in faith. When you pray, you grow in faith because youre trusting that the prayer is answered. Youve grown in faith because youve seen answered prayer. If the prayer is unanswered, and you continue to pray, youre learning patience. Youre learning perseverance, youre learning to trust in spite of circumstances, and youre growing in faith as well. Prayer is for our benefit; prayer is for our wellbeing.

Im going to have a couple in our church, Dennis and Judy Babish [come forward]; hes one of the teaching elders of our church. They have been going through a battle, and Judy is going to tell you about that-a health battle that theyve been struggling with; but as they go through this battle, they dont go through this battle alone. Theyre gone through this battle with their brothers and sisters in Christ at this church. Theyre going to come and theyre going to talk as a living illustration about the benefits of prayer. Dennis and Judy, why dont you come at this time.

Judy: Okay, first of all, Id like to share with you that this is a testimony, but I really want it to be more of a testimony to Gods faithfulness and the power of prayer that weve been experiencing over the past several months. I know that there are many people out here that are suffering also from serious testing even now, and I hope that this testimony will encourage you to trust God, not underestimate what He can do, and seek Him through prayer and reaching out to the community of believers here at Faith Community. I also want to encourage you to pray unceasingly with your families, your children. I want to share with you that Dennis and I do pray together, and I never feel more in love with him than I do when were praying because I see that hes vulnerable, and its just a wonderful thing. Its a blessing for both of us.

In October 2009, during a routine physical, an X-ray was taken showing a large suspicious tumor on the left lobe of my lung. A smaller tumor on the right lung [was also present], along with various suspicious lymph nodes. After a few short shocking moments, Dennis and I began to pray for the Lords leading and His perfect will. God began directing us to the right people for wisdom, and we knew immediately that He would be along for this next trial in our lives, and God has definitely been faithful to do so. We then called a long-time Christian doctor friend asking him where to begin for medical recommendations. Dennis called the recommended oncologist immediately, and she-the doctor-actually answered her own phone because she happened to be in the office early that day. Surprisingly, she gave us an appointment for the very first time slot the next morning. God had wasted no time. After several biopsies, scans, and an MRI, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer, Stage 5 being the only worse thing, a cancer that statistically has a one percent rate of survival and possibly one to two years of life remaining. While our minds and bodies were somewhat numb, our spirits were at peace for we already knew-that God was in charge. We immediately put this prayer request out to the branch of the Lord Prayer Team. We asked Pastor Jeff to arrange for the elders to pray over me as stated in James 5:14. A surprising number of prayer team members, some of whom I had never met, and many friends were present during the elder prayer. It would be impossible to tell you in this short message how the Lord has blessed us with the faithful community of this church with fasting and prayer and offers for help in the way of day-to-day activities-sufficed to know that this community is ready, willing and waiting to serve on our behalf for the glory of God and for yours too. After two chemotherapy sessions, much to the doctors surprise, a scan was done and found the tumor had shrunk by one third. The power of God continued to be demonstrated. It was decided to try two more chemo sessions to see what would happen. This past Wednesday, I had another scan and then met with my oncologist. Up until now, this very serious professional woman had never revealed one single emotion, but that day when she walked into the room, she was smiling and didnt waste much time before sharing that the tumors had shrunk another one third. She was quick to say this was highly unusually and not expected. At that moment, she recalled that I had told her that I had a very strong faith and that it was Gods statistics that I was interested in. Then she said that something unusual was happening, and she definitely was linking this positive outcome to prayer. I asked her if she believed in prayer, and she said in her usual one-word answers, Yes.

Dennis: Well, I know the shrinkage was caused by God, and He was moved because of the prayers and the diligence of those prayers. They were flooding His throne. We can talk about the power of prayer, but these results demonstrate that power. It also glorifies God. In 1 Peter 3:12, it says, For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer… God enjoys hearing our prayers and as a loving Father, He doesnt like our suffering. Why is it then so often that we ignore God and not take our sufferings, trials and needs to Him in prayer? Instead we rely on what the doctors say and what the politicians promise. Paul said in Philippians 4:6 that were to present everything to God in prayer and petitions. James also wrote that the prayers of righteous people are powerful and effective. Here at Faith, we have an excellent prayer group called the Branch of the Lord, led by Lori Fish, but there are way too few members who diligently pray for the request of others and could use more members. Its a blessing to be considered part of this team. If our church became a total house of prayer, God would unleash His power and do things that we cant even imagine, even a revival. The testimony you just heard about demonstrates that power of prayer and Gods faithfulness to each of us.

Judy: So, where are we going to go from here in our life? We will continue to trust that God is in charge of our lives, and I want to share too one of the more miraculous things that has taken place. That is that one of our three sons who hasnt known the Lord has accepted Him in the last three months (congregation applauding), so praise God! And it is our deepest desire to glorify God regardless of whatever the outcome is. He and He alone will decide when I will see Him in eternity and what my life in this world will accomplish for His Kingdom. Thank you (congregation applauding).

Thank you, Judy. Its not an easy thing to do-to get up in front of people. Youre a scary group (congregation laughing). They did a terrific job. Dennis talked about the fact that prayer changes things. Why is that? Does God change? No, we change. We change. I hope that you will recommit yourselves to prayer. Youll pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ; youll pray for our leadership; youll pray for our church; youll pray for the ministries of our church as we are seeking to share the Gospel. They come under attack in different ways at different times, so I hope youll be praying for that. I hope you will open up and share with others prayer concerns that you have and the context of your ministry, or your relationships, whatever groups you belong to-your small group, the mens group, the womens group, your Christian education classes, wherever youre at, that you will open up and share whats going on in your life as well so that you can enter in to that community with your brothers and sisters. How many of you would love to do that? Youd love to grow in your prayer life? Amen.

Lets pray together:

Father, Paul has thrown down the gauntlet that prayer is not an event. Its not just an occasion that we cross off the list, but it is a lifestyle. It is an ongoing dialogue with the living God through which we can enter in to fellowship. As we enter in to that fellowship, through that fellowship, we discern Your will. We experience Your leadership, Your wisdom. You endue us with power to persevere, equip us with power to accomplish Your purposes. Its through that prayer that we enter in to community with brothers and sisters. Its through that prayer that we learn obedience, that we grow in faith, and that we grow in humility. Lord, each person in this room raised their hand basically to signify that we all need to improve in this area. Lord, with all those benefits, its just a wonder why it sometimes is a struggle. The reason its a struggle is the enemy is opposed to it. Lord, we thank you that no matter how technology advances, prayer is going to remain the same. Prayer is going to remain the Creator talking to His creation and the creation talking back. Lord, I pray that we would become a people of prayer, a church of prayer, an ever-increasing dimension, that You might change us from the inside out, that we might impact our world knowing that the attack of the enemy is near.

Full Armor of God

Well, Ephesians 6 is where were at today. In this passage, Paul sounds the alarm.

Weve been following the news, this big earthquake in Chile, and a tsunami is going to follow, so in Hawaii and Japan and other places, they were bracing yesterday for the tsunami. It turned out that it wasnt that bad, but they didnt know what was going to happen; so sirens were going off. People were driving around in cars warning people to evacuate and head to higher ground because there is a threat. Its very real, and its coming. Weve spotted the tsunami at sea. Were not sure how large its going to become, so move to higher ground. Evacuate. They were pretty confident that if they responded to that, they would be safe. They boarded up their homes. They headed to higher ground to wait out the tsunami. So thats wisdom. Thats wisdom because when there is a threat, you prepare. You take every means you can to protect yourself and your family.

Paul is going to talk here about a very real threat, a very real enemy that is seeking to destroy anyone in his path. Hes going to introduce us to a spiritual world of darkness, a hierarchy, a struggle in which there is conflict between the forces of God and the forces of the enemy. He sounds the alarm, and he says, Prepare yourselves. Get ready so that youre able to stand.

Verse 10 (page 1160 of pew Bibles) Paul writes, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Notice Paul says you have to stand in His power. You dont fight a tsunami because it will defeat you. Youre not powerful enough to fight it. In the same way you cannot fight the force of darkness in and of your own strength. You have to fight and stand in the power of God, and hes going to tell us how to do that. He says to do that, you must, Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms, or in the Greek, it just says in the Heavenly.

So he talks about this hierarchy, this unseen force. We see the manifestation of evil in our world, but he says, We are talking about principalities and powers that we cannot see. We cannot see the wind, but we see the effects of the wind. We see what it does. We cannot see the earthquake. We cannot see the platelets moving. We see effect. So we cannot see the enemy, but we can see his effect. We can feel the opposition.

Ill tell you when this really became real to me. Ill give you a couple dramatic stories. Ill just tell these really quickly because we want to get in the text, but these are times when this whole idea of warfare became real to me. It went from beyond just words in the Scripture to a reality that I was engaged in. If you are skeptical here today-if you dont believe in spiritual warfare or you dont believe in the existence of a literal devil as Jesus obviously did-these stories arent necessarily going to convince you otherwise; but I share these because these were defining moments for me, and they were very early on in my ministry. I was in my 20s. I was pretty green, and Rockford-where Im from-actually became a hotbed for satanic activity. There was a church of Satan-and may still be; I dont know-that was in conflict with one of the local churches in the community. There was satanic ritual activity at the local parks. One of our pastors had a deliverance-based ministry, and people would come out of that lifestyle and want to be delivered. Theyd come to our church, so we had to deal with this on a regular basis-people who had taken part in various satanic ceremonies and activities who were wanting freedom. That pastor would work with law enforcement because they would try to track down [victims who participated in this satanic lifestyle] because crimes had been committed. There were evidences of it in the parks and so forth. Our pastor would work with investigators, so it was not uncommon for us to deal with this in Rockford, Illinois. One particular time, this young man about 17 years old [came to us]. Hed had a real troubled childhood, was really depressed, and he was on his bed listening to Motley Crew. I think it was a Shout at the Devil, song like that. On his bed, he said, I asked Satan to possess me. I asked him to come and live inside of me. Im really afraid now because things are happening in me that I dont understand. This morning at school, I wrote a letter. Its almost like it wasnt even my words and something dark was writing through me, and Im scared. I need help. So several of us began to pray for this young man named John. As we were praying, he gets this sinister grin, and he opens up the desk, almost as if he knows where to look, and he grabs a large pair of scissors-not school scissors, but a large pair that really was a weapon. He stars to glare at everybody in the room. One of the pastors goes, Jeff, you go find the letter. We have to take him on a prayer to renounce these things he said. This letter Im sensing is a key, so go back to the classroom and find this letter.

Id like to tell you that I was real brave. Id like to tell you that I was like, Yeah, Satans going to get it now! but I leave the room where he is holding a knife on these guys. I go to the classroom, I have to find the letter! I have to find the letter! Hes going to kill people! (Pastor is saying this with a shaky voice.) So Im just all in a dither, and I get to the room; and there is no trash in the trashcans. We had said, What did you do with the letter?

He said, I threw it away.

I saw the janitor, Where, where is the letter? Wheres the trash?

He goes, Oh, I just emptied everything into the dumpster.

I went, Great! I go outside to the dumpster, a big dumpster. I open up the lid, and you know we have a school K-12. He has just emptied every trash can in all the classrooms. Do you know whats in pretty much every trashcan? Crumpled up white pieces of paper, so literally the bin is entirely full with crumpled up white pieces of paper. I mean there are hundreds and hundreds of crumpled up white pieces of paper, and Im supposed to find one letter. Im like, This is impossible. Hes in the church. He has a knife. I dont know if hes stabbing people right now. Im supposed to find this letter. I was like, Lord, please help me find this letter. Im not going to climb in the bin and start looking through hundreds of sheets of paper. What am I going to do?

I reach in and I grab a piece of paper, and I unfold it. The first one-gang, the first one, I grab-is the letter from the kid. I couldnt believe it! That was a real sign to me. Now you might be skeptical and say, Well, it just happened, you know. People win the lottery too. Thats fine, but for me, that was really something-that I would find that letter on the first shot. I took it in, read it. It was like, Im going to kill the principal. Im going to kill myself. I hate God! It was just filled with all this bad stuff. We led the kid on a prayer of confession and renouncing of the decisions that he made.

Long story short, I got a call from him actually a year ago, just to let me know he was doing well and say he was doing well and thank you for helping me when I was a young man. Now Im a father, and blah, blah, blah; and we reminisced for a little bit.

The second story, really quick, is when a guy called the church. He said, Ive made some bad decisions, and Im involved with what I shouldnt be. I feel like Satan has really attacked me. I dont know if Im possessed or oppressed or what, but I need help. So he came to church. Id never seen him before in my life. I open up the door. Have you ever met somebody who just gives you the heebie-jeebies when you meet them? This guy had these beady eyes and this kind of devilish grin. I was like, Hello, come in. I was like making sure my door handle was not locked because I didnt trust this guy. I was like, I dont want to be in the office with this guy with the door locked. I was like triple checking it, Okay, its not locked. Great. I shut the door and sat down. I had not my main desk-which was behind me-but just this desk a bit smaller that I just met with people at and so forth. Its a light desk. It wasnt wood or anything like that, just a light desk. We were sitting there talking, and he started telling me all the perverse things he was involved with. I was like, Man, no wonder. This is just bad. You have to confess this to the Lord. You have to ask His forgiveness, His cleansing, ask Him to come into your life. We have to get rid of this. This is bad stuff!

I said, Can I pray with you? At that point, I was young. I wasnt even old enough to realize, Does this guy even want to get rid of this stuff? I would have handled this situation a whole lot differently now than I did then, but we started to pray. As we were praying, have you ever just sensed somebody was glaring at you? I sensed he was glaring at me. I could just sense it. I knew if I opened my eyes, he would be looking at me with an evil look. That was creeping me out. So I was just praying, and pretty soon his hands started to shake violently, and Im just holding on. Then he starts to go, Grrrr. GRrr! GRRR! He started to growl. I just kept praying. I felt like I got on the back of a tiger now, and I didnt know how to get off. He started to shake even more violently and growl louder. I was like help us, Jesus! Help us, Lord! (Pastor is talking with a shaky voice.) Im just scared. All of the sudden, he stands up; and when he stand up, he pushes the table onto me. The table is now at my waist, and his full body weight is against the table; so I cant move my lower body. Im trapped. He takes my suit coat-yes, my boss made us wear a suit coat-grabs it, pulls it up over my head so sleeves are where my elbows are, and I cant move my arms. Im like in a straight jacket. I literally cant move. Im trapped by the table; he was over me; the suit coat was over my head; and he was shaking me while going, Rrrr! RRRR! Im going, Help. Help. Im in my 20s and Im scared! This guy is…

Gary, the expert over here, says, Im on my way! I hear him through the wall. He comes around the door, and he goes shake, shake, shake [on the doorknob]. Just a second. The door is locked. I have to go get a key.

Im like, The door is not locked. Im thinking, How can this be locked? and right there in that moment, I said, This is real. I know I didnt lock it. I know that door is not locked! How did that door get locked? Something is going on here. Long story short, they got the key. They came. We restrained the guy and prayed with the guy. It was a battle. He was very violent to himself. Eventually, we got him calmed down; and last I heard about this fellow was he was a pastor in Freeport, Illinois. Last I heard-that was many years ago. This would have been almost 30 years ago that this story took place; so a lot transpired in that time. That event, that locking of the door-when I knew that the door was not locked-how did that happen? I had no explanation for that. So those events kind of woke me up early to the fact that spiritual warfare is real.

Now hes going to use an interesting word in this passage. It says, Our struggle. That is the word wrestling. We wrestle not, some of your translations may say. We wrestle not. This wrestling, it would be very similar to our wrestling. This would have been the first Olympic sport that did not involve running in 707 B.C.-pale (pay-lay). Its where you throw your opponent several times. You have to throw your opponent, and then you are the victor when you can stand over your opponent and put your hand on this throat, signifying you are the victor. He uses that word and that word picture. He says, We are in a heated match. I have to tell you I respect wrestlers out here. How many of you high school wrestlers or college wrestlers do we have here today? Yeah, dont mess with those guys. That is a grueling sport. I just thank God He made me a basketball player. I used to see their workouts, and I know what they went through to lose weight, to get in shape. It is a hard sport. So he picks one of the most grueling, physical sports-wrestling, and he says, This is like a wrestling match.

Paul is acting here as a scout. A good scout, or a good coach, scouts the other team and say, Okay, your opponent today, here are his strengths. Heres what he likes to do. Here are your weaknesses. Heres where youre vulnerable in your match today, so dont let yourself get in this position. Make sure you dont put your hand here or your foot here. Be on guard against this because heres where he always attacks. Hes going to dive for your legs. When he does that, do this. The coach is helping you in advance. Hes warning you in advance of how your enemy will attack. He says, We are not ignorant of his schemes, of his devices, or of his trickery.

Paul is saying he has the same moves every time. He has the same moves every time. The place where he attacks first and foremost is where our greatest strength is because if he can attack our greatest strength and have victory there, then everything falls in place like dominos. What is the greatest strength we have? What is the greatest weapon in our arsenal? Its the first weapon that Paul gives us. He gives it to us first for a reason. The greatest weapon that you and I have is Truth. Well I thought the goodness of God or the love of God is the greatest thing we have. The greatness of God, the goodness of God, and the love of God are only wonderful and great because they are true. The Gospel and our faith, I thought that was the greatest weapon we had. We can only have faith because it is based upon what is true, so Truth is our greatest strength; so when Satan attacks, he will attack the Truth. I guarantee you that, and he will always attack it in the same way. He operates by the if its not broke, dont fix it school of thought. Hes been using the same techniques since the dawn of Creation. They always work, so he continues to use those techniques. So if we want to say, In this wrestling match, we know his schemes. What are his schemes? What do they look like? How does he operate? Then we can expect them and respond to them when they happen.

I was talking with a woman in our 9:30 service, and she was able to connect the dots in something she was going through, a struggle she was going through. She said, I didnt realize that what I was going through was a spiritual attack until the message today. She said, Now Im ready! Im ready! I have my armor on. Now I understand whats coming, who it is, and how I can defend against it.

Lets turn to the Book of Genesis 3 (page 3 of pew Bibles). The setting is Eden; its paradise. The account is the fall of men, and our concern is with the first five verses of the chapter. We kind of know what happens in the rest of the story, but were going to focus on Verses 1-5.

It says, Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?

Method number one is doubt, to get you to question the Truth. Thats method number one that the enemy will use. He will get you to doubt what you know to be true. Now, Im not talking about a healthy doubt or a healthy skepticism. Every one of us should have that. If you hear something that doesnt sound quite right or read something that doesnt seem quite right, you go to the Word of God and you say, Is this true or not? Im just doubting what I hear today-Im not talking about that. Thats good. You keep that up. However, Im talking about doubting what we know to be true. Eve knew that was true. He tries to introduce doubt to get her to question the Truth. Thats how he operates. He gets us to try to question the Truth.

Our children in the schools-growing up in the church-understand that theyve been made imago Dei, in the image of God. Theyre learning that they are evolved, and that they are simply an accident from cosmic goo. Theres no divine plan or purpose for their life. They simply happen. Theyre an accident. They begin to doubt what theyve been taught that is true.

Sometimes because of our sin, were ashamed or we feel guilty because of things weve done or said or the things we didnt do that we should have done or didnt say that we should have said. We start to feel like well, God doesnt love me or I cant be a Christian. He will get us to doubt our salvation. God doesnt really love you. You do not really belong to Him. If you really belonged to Him, then you wouldnt do this. You wouldnt say that. He gets us to question what we know is true. Thats how the enemy operates.

There were times when the Apostle Paul, I think, struggled with everything that were going to talk about today. One thing we know about Paul is that Paul was a very timid individual. He writes really bold in his letters. He even talks about that. He says, You know, I came to you. You thought youd see this bold man, and when you actually met me, you saw how timid I was, and you were surprised. You were like, Is this Paul? Youre so loud and demonstrative in your letters, but when we meet you, youre just timid. Thats the way he was. There were times when Paul would say, Pray for me that I can proclaim the Gospel. Pray for me that I have confidence to speak the Word as I should. There were times Paul struggled with doubts, even though he knew God had called him to that mission. He knew the Truth. There were times when he began to question what he knew to be true, and he asked for help in that area. So thats how Satan works, because if he can get us to doubt, then we are susceptible to deceit, to desires-the other things were going to talk about-and begin to fall like dominos.

Well, Eve holds up pretty well in this first test. If you question and try to get them to doubt the Truth-what did Jesus do in the wilderness? When Satan tried to get Him to question the Truth, He quoted the Scripture. He quoted the Truth.

The woman said, We may not eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say… She affirms the Truth. …that you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.

Then Satan goes, Oh, okay. Ill leave you alone then. Thanks. No, no, no. Hes relentless. He tries another tactic.

Verse 4, You will not surely die. The serpent said to the woman. He tries the tactic of deceit-deceit. Deceit is when you have some truth, and you just twist it a little bit. She wasnt going to physically die. She was going to spiritually die. She said she would physically remain alive, but there was going to be a death. There was going to be a separation, but he was like, Oh, youre going to be fine. Deceit.

And with this deceit comes a false justification. We begin to say, I am justified in my behavior because it has just enough Truth even though the Truth is skewed.

Ill give you a couple examples. Somebody is working, and theyre handling money. Maybe its their job or maybe theyre a volunteer, but theyre around funds. Thats a very trustworthy thing. I have no authority to sign checks. I dont transfer payroll. I cant determine wages. I dont see deposits or offerings. I just try to stay out of that. Im part of the board, but I dont handle any monies. I dont have the authority to handle any monies as far as writing checks or authorizing salary. I just stay out of that, but there are some people that have been put in that position where they have to handle finances.

Maybe things are difficult for them. Theyre struggling. Maybe something has happened in their lifestyle where they have bills to pay and they have a lot of pressures; so they take the money, and they say, I know this money isnt mine, but Im going to pay it back. Because they have an intention to pay it back, they take the money, and they use it for their own purposes.

Or they might say, I work hard, but Im just underappreciated. Im not paid what Im worth. This company needs to pay me more, so they actually take the money not with the intention of paying it back. They take it because they think they deserve it. They work hard. But the truth of the matter is it was not authorized. They dont have the authority to take it, but they tell themselves they do. They say, I work hard, which is true. They say, I should make more than I do, which might be true, but theyve not been authorized or entitled to take more; and they take it anyway because of this deceit. They cover it up. They hide it.

I had a friend who told me this week that an employee embezzled $200,000 from his company-a person that he had trusted for these very reasons.

A person is in a relationship, in a marriage, and theyre not happy. The marriage is not going well. Maybe one of the spouses is just very absent, emotionally or physically absent. Theres another person thats paying attention to him, and they start to have feelings for that person. They say, Well, you know, these feelings are justified because after all, so and so doesnt love me anymore. Theyre always gone. That is true. Theyre always gone. It might be true that they dont feel the same way about you, but its not true that youre justified in having this relationship while youre married; so deceit sets in, and they follow and they act on that impulse. What happens? Counselors will tell you this. People in the mental health profession will tell you this. People in the ministry will tell you this-that a person who lives enough in the pattern of deceit pretty soon is not able to discern truth from a lie. They become so wrapped up in deceit that that becomes their reality. They will tell you without feeling any guilt. Its almost like in their minds its not a lie because theyve just lived with that deceit so long, its become a part of who they are. You probably know some people like that. It started with a lie; it started with deceit, twisting of the truth. That justified our actions, our attitudes. The next thing you know, we are engrained in this pattern of deceit, and Satan has us exactly where he wants us.

Theres a third way that he attacks the Truth. Verse 5, the serpents says, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Be like God. Those words ring over in her mind-to be like God. In this tactic, he takes a lie and magnifies it. He takes our desires and then magnifies a lie, and that lie has to do with the promise, the promise of some sort of pleasure, promise of some sort of gain-a promise thats never delivered. Its a promise that never lives up to expectation, but the promise goes like this: If you just had this person… If you just had this object… If you just had this accomplishment… If you just had this much money…then you will happy. Then you will be fulfilled. Then you will be satisfied. Then life will be good. So a person will compromise their integrity. Theyll compromise their family. Theyll sacrifice their family on the altar. Theyll sacrifice any number of things to obtain what they believe is going to bring them happiness.

Youve seen that, havent you? Youve even heard that in your ear. Youve heard a little voice telling you when youre looking at something-this forbidden fruit that youre not supposed to have- and saying, Even if you had that, youd be so much better. If you had that, life would be so good, so youre willing to compromise your standards, your ethics, to acquire because theres this promise. The problem is when you finally sink your teeth into that fruit-and you partake of it and taste it-it is not what it was built to be. It does not live up. It does not satisfy. It leaves you empty and void until the next thing comes along, the next promise comes along and says, Well, not that, but this. So this whole idea of being like God was a temptation. Sometimes its not even these things that we would say, Well, thats blatant sin. Sometimes Satan can tempt us with something that is good, but its not the will of God.

You know how the Apostle Paul would say, Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and work with your hands? Hed write that. That's Scripture, Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and work with your hands.

I bet you there were times when Paul would write that, and he would go, Man, that sounds good.

I bet there were times when Satan would whisper in his ear and say, Paul, youve worked really hard. Youve put up with a lot of stuff. Pauls life was anything but quiet-shipwrecks, riots in which he was the focal point, imprisoned, beaten, starved-all these threats upon him-ridiculed, mocked. And whats more-the pressures of the church as he fights a false doctrine and he fights against those who attack the Truth of the church.

We talked earlier about the importance of standing up to deceit. Much of the New Testament was written as a response to deceit, as a response to people who were twisting the Truth. There was a group that would attack the deity of Christ. They were called the Docetists. They began to teach false doctrine about who Jesus was and of His nature. Paul had to attack docetism. There was another heresy called Gnosticism which attacked how a person received salvation; and much of the New Testament is written as a response to defend the Gospel against Gnosticism.

There was another school of thought called antinomianism, which is against the law. It was thought that there was no law. As a Christian, you could live any way you wanted to live. Paul defends that in the Book of Romans and elsewhere. He comes against antinomianism. All these other isms, we could go on. They all existed in the first century, and they attacked the church. They attacked the church. All the problems with ethics that we have, they had. Utilitarianism-which says the end justifies the means, that existed in the first century.

So Paul, Peter, and the others write against these twistings of the Truth, to uphold and defend the Truth-the very fact that our New Testament exists. Now I understand its the Holy Spirit who inspired the Books and wrote the Books through men and put it all together, but what Im saying to you is understand it didnt drop from Heaven like this. It didnt drop where they picked it up and say, Oh, its the New Testament! It didnt happen that way. The church put together the cannon, or the rule of Scripture. Why? Because the Gospel was attacked. There was man by the name of Marcian, and Marcian attacked the New Testament and the Old Testament. Any reference to the God of the Old Testament was removed. He was an anti-Semite, and by the time he got through slicing and dicing the New Testament, just a little bit of Luke was left and a little bit of some other Books. Hed say, Here, this is all thats left. This is all thats from God. The church went, Oh, we have to do something about this hieratic, Marcian. So they assembled the Books of the Bible together. For the first time-the oldest time we have-is called the Moratorium Fragment from 170 A.D. They wrote a letter and said, Here are the inspired Books of the Bible. They have Apostolicity. Theyd been written by an Apostle. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that was a response to somebody twisting the Truth.

Paul was right in the thick of this, right in the heart. There was never a days rest for Paul. He was advancing the Gospel, but while he was doing that, he was encountering opposition from every front. Sometimes it was heresy within the church. Sometimes it was attacks outside of the church. Sometimes it was his health. Sometimes it was any number of things. He was a tent maker. Thats what he did to support himself. Im sure it was tempting for Paul that the enemy would just whisper in his ear as he was writing and say, Make it your ambition to live a quiet life and work with your hands. Doesnt that sound good, Paul? How about when you go to one of those islands to share the Gospel, why dont you just settle down there? Just make tents the rest of your life. Satans not asking him to go against the Gospel, to attack the church, or to tear down what hes built. No, no, no, no. But, you know, youve done your share. Youve gone through more than anybodys gone through emotionally, physically. It has been taxing on you. Live the good life. Just retire. Retire from the Gospel, and go make some tents for a while. Is it an evil thing to retire? Do pastors retire? Sure, pastors retire. And Im sure Paul has thought about that. He was thinking, Yeah, thats probably not a bad idea, but it wasnt the will of God. The will of God was that Paul was going to eventually give his life for the cause of Christ.

Im telling you any pastor who is honest with you will tell you if theyve been in the ministry long enough, there are days when they say, Hey, I dont need this. Im going to go do something… Not me. No, Ive never had those days, but there are other pastors that I know of whove said that this is a lot of work. This is trouble. Ill just do this over here, a 9-5 kind of a job. Its hard. Some of you are engaged in ministry. You know what Im talking about. If youre engaged in ministry, especially if youre on the front lines, it gets hard. You might just want to say, Oh, you know. Let somebody else fight this battle. Im going to go do something else.

So Paul dealt with those temptations. He kept performing the same techniques. He used the same tactics because doubt, deceit, and desires still work-twisting the Truth, getting us to question the Truth, and magnifying a lie still are believed and acted upon. We can get to the point where we know those attacks are coming and we recognize those attacks. When the Holy Spirit sounds His siren within our heart, and we know that a wave is eminent and a tsunami-a spiritual tsunami-is coming, And I need to prepare myself. I need to put on the armor of God that I can stand against this attack. Thats what were going to do.

Next week, were going to actually get into the pieces of armor, and were going to see how each piece of armor has to do with holding on to the Truth. Because we have the Truth in Christ, we have the shield of faith. We have the sword of the Spirit. Its the sword of the Spirit thats powerful and active because it is true.

So Satan is going to attack the truth; we are called to defend the Truth and stand for the Truth. To do that we place on the armor, so thats going to be our subject matter next week. Before we move on in the service, lets just spend some time in prayer and lifting up these concerns to the Lord because I know some of you are going through these struggles right now.

Father, right now I want to lift up Your people, Your children. Lord, there are some people here who are struggling with doubts this week. Theyre questioning what they know to be true. Maybe theyre questioning that You love them or theyre questioning that Youve saved them. Theyre questioning a promise in Your Word. Theyre questioning Your presence in their lives. Theyre questioning something in the midst of a storm, in the midst of doubt. Father, I pray this morning that Your perfect love would drive out that doubt, remove that fear. Help them to know that Your promises are the same yesterday, today, and forever. They can trust in You. They can trust in Your Word. I pray for those this morning who are [involved in] various levels of deceit. Maybe its in its beginning stages, or maybe its advanced. I pray this morning that Your Truth would remove that darkness, that lies would be exposed, repented of and forsaken. Lord, if theyve engaged themselves in a destructive pattern of behavior or if they are beginning to go down a path which can bring destruction and harm to them or their family, [I pray] this morning is a wake-up call; that they heed the siren; that, Lord, they would no longer be the victim of that deceit; that they would be a follower of Truth. Father, for those of us who believed that temptation of desire, whatever that desire might be, the Word talks about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the elements in which Satan uses desire-that we follow that carrot, that promise that says if we just have this, well be happy. Well have power; well have contentment. Father, I pray that we would see right now that what we must desire more than any thing or any one is You. Its only in You, Father, that we find the rest for our souls that we seek. Its only in You that we find the fulfillment that we hope for and long for. So I pray that Truth will be magnified and not a lie. Father, I pray too that we as the church of the living God can come alongside those who have succumb to this trickery; those who have magnified the lie; those who have engaged in deceit; and those who have entertained doubt. Right now they are struggling. Theyre wrestling and theyre losing. We will come alongside and help them, stand with them, pray with them, and encourage them in their faith. Help us to be the church today to one another. Grant us wisdom through Your Spirit; [teach us] how to apply this message to our hearts and lives. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Today were going to talk about the story of William Wilberforce who lived in England, late 1700s, early 1800s and was a one-man wrecking crew against slavery; and before he died-three days before he died-the Parliament passed a law that slavery was now illegal in England. Well be talking a little bit more about him in the service as we go.

Were going through the Book of Ephesians together as a church, and were going through every chapter, every verse; and were in Chapter 6 right now, and were coming to some Scripture that is controversial. Its controversial not because of the fact that its the subject of slavery. Its not controversial in the sense that were in an ethical dilemma as to how we feel about slavery. If we were to take a survey, all of us would go, Yeah, slavery is bad. Slavery is wrong. Theres no question about that. However, where the controversy is is in how the Bible deals with slavery. Why does the Bible not take a stronger stand against slavery? Why is Paul not condemning slavery or Jesus condemning slavery? Why is He not demanding masters to release their slaves or slaves to run away from the masters? This becomes a stumbling block for people. Some people will use those Scriptures as a means to point fingers and say, Well, look the Bible doesnt condemn slavery like it should. Why is that?

If youre reading your devotion, sometimes you just kinda dance around those passages because theyre all over the New Testament. Theyre all over. Were going to mention several Books this morning that talk about the subject. Theres one entire Book of the New Testament thats devoted to the subject of slavery. Yet, when was the last time you heard a sermon on this subject in a church? Let me see your hand if you could remember sitting in church on a Sunday morning and listening to a sermon about slavery. Let me see your hands. If you have, let us know. Dont you find it peculiar that something thats talked about so much in the Bible-in the Old Testament; in the Gospels Jesus uses slaves in parables; in the New Testament in so many of Pauls Books, and yet you and I, for the most part, have never sat through a sermon that talks about that and how to deal with this dilemma…until today.

Today were going to deal with it. Were going to try to look at the whole picture and gain a whole understanding. Sometimes our understanding is limited because we only have gathered so many facts. You might go home tonight after being out and about, and you come home and drive by your neighbors house. Somebodys trying to break in their house. You call 911 and say, Somebodys trying to break in my neighbors house. The police arrive and it turns out its your neighbor, and they didnt have their keys, so theyre breaking in. Well, you did what you thought was the right thing, but you really didnt have all the facts. So what we want to have this morning is a good old fashion Bible study. This is not a one, two, three point sermon kind of a thing. This is a Bible study. This is [here to] help us to understand why the Bible says what it says and why it doesnt say what it doesnt say.

Lets turn to Ephesians 6 (page 1160 of pew Bibles). Remember this morning the nursery is closed because its not getting hot air. Of course youre getting hot air from more than one source right now. That was just too easy. There might be some infants in here. If they fuss today, just focus. Were not going to ask the parents to go into the conference room and watch it on TV. They can just stay right here, so well just have extra grace today, and well get the problem fixed.

Ephesians 6:5, Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve whole-heartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know the Lord will reward anyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

You know, one of the things we have to decide in Scripture, when we see a command like that, is is that command cultural or is that command trans-cultural. By that I mean is it a part for that culture, for that time, and for that people only, or is it good for all people, all cultures, all times? For instance if I say the commandment of the Bible is Thou shall not kill, is that just for one region, one time, one people, or is that for everybody of all times, of all nations? Thats for everybody. If I say, Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, was that just for the Israelites? Was that just for the time of Deuteronomy, or is that for everybody, all times? Its trans-cultural. That's for everybody. If I quote from 1 Thessalonians when Paul says, Greet one another with a holy kiss. Men, greet one another with a holy kiss. Is that cultural or trans-cultural? Thats cultural. Any of you dudes try to greet me with a holy kiss, Im gonna drop you. Or if youre bigger than me, Im gonna run (congregation laughing).

Were going to look at a side note here. I remember going to a seminar, and there were like thousands of people there. There must have been some church where they kind of believe like every Scripture we read, ever command we have to do today is [still existent]. They were going around greeting each other with holy kisses. It was just weird. Its like, Thats not our culture. We shake your hand, give you a hug, How you doing? But were not going around, you know, kissing. I can see that would be a problem. Oh, good morning, smooch. I dont think thats what a holy kiss is, but I can just see theres going to be some problems with that doctrine. Were not going to go there. Thats a cultural thing. When He says, Slaves, obey your masters, that is a cultural command. That was for that point in time. Were not preaching that today because culture has changed.

Now heres the problem. You say, Well why doesnt Paul just say slavery is evil? Masters, free your slaves. Slaves run away from your masters. Come to the church. Well give you refuge. Why? Lets talk about that. Do you have any idea how many slaves lived in the Roman Empire when Paul wrote this? Any idea? Was it 6,000 slaves? No. Was it 60,000 slaves? No. Was it 600,000 slaves? No, its higher. Was it 6 million slaves? No, no, no. Way higher-60 million slaves! That is a staggering figure. Slavery was interwoven into every fabric of society, every city, every region, every country. Under the hands of the Roman Empire, there were slaves; and there had been for generations and generations. Its the only life that they knew. That was normal-60 million slaves!

There was also the reality of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire ruled with an iron fist. If you were to rebel against them and cause social unrest, civil disobedience, they would crack down on you. You would be beaten, imprisoned, or executed as an example. So anything that was done to disturb the peace of Rome, Pax Romana, was met with force, and it was met right away. If Paul would have caused this civil disobedience, this social unrest, and millions of slaves are now leaving their masters, do you have any idea the massacre that would have taken place? People by the hundreds of thousands would lose their lives. Whats more? Christianity was brand new. It was just in its infancy. It was very fragile, very new. It was only a couple decades old.

Paul was very careful of the image of Christianity, how we were being portrayed to the world. In fact, if you look in 1 Timothy 6:1, if youd turn there (page 1177 of pew Bibles), Paul says these words, All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that Gods name and our teaching may not be slandered.

Slaves, rather than staging an insurrection and rebelling against the government, you are going to be model slaves. Slaves who are Christians are going to be exemplary in society. God in His wisdom goes the exact opposite direction. He is going to work not with dynamite, but God is going to use leaven. God is going to use a yeast of His Word and His Spirit to work in the hearts of men, to lift up equality, to lift up freedom, to lift up justice and fairness; and as those values are lifted up, then culture is going to rise. Culture is going to change from the inside out, not through dynamite, but through leaven-not through a massacre. Not only the Roman government-but if you were a slave and you ran away from your master and you were found, best case scenario is you would be severely beaten and then have and F seared into your forehead for fugitive, which meant runaway in the Greek. Fugitive for the rest of your life. More than likely youd be executed. You would be made an example because you were simply property. You were a living tool. You were a talking animal. You had no rights. You had no worth beyond what you could produce for your master. If you ran away, they would send a strong message, and more than likely, you were dead.

If Paul were to preach that, and by the way-if you study the Scripture, if you read Romans 13, if you read 1 Peter 2, if you read the teachings of Jesus-Jesus never taught revolt against the government. God is going to work in and through the culture and change the hearts of men, and in doing so, liberty will be gained-not just in Biblical times. Were going to see all the way through today, the Spirit of God is at work in the world bringing about His purposes.

So Paul doesnt do that. Paul in the wisdom of God is going to seek to change the hearts of men.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to the Book of Galatians. Would you turn there please? Galatians 3:28 (page 1153), this is one of the key verses in all the Bible. Now, Judaism-in Israel, slavery was not banned. Slavery was a part of life in all cultures, but in Israel, I mean if you were going to be a slave, that was probably the best place to be a slave. You practiced the Sabbath in which you were able to rest. You could participate in worship. You were set free on the seventh year. There were limitations as to what a master could do, and if they exceeded those limitations and cruelty, theyd be punished. Israel could be a city of refuge if you were a runaway slave-where you could come for safety; so if you had to be a slave, that was a good place to be one. But Paul is going to take it, and hes going to lift it to a new height. He is going to talk about something radically different than the societal norm. If youre treated like property, pretty soon you start to see yourself as property. If youre treated as sub-human, pretty soon you start to see yourself as sub-human. So when this letter is read to the church in Galatia, slaves and free masters would be listening to these words because slaves worshipped right alongside [their masters]. They were so much a part of society-they were part of the family-they would be worshipped right with their masters, so its very possible that in the church, youve got a slave and a master sitting in the same pew. It happened.

Paul says these words in Verse 28 [of Galatians 3], There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ. You are one in Christ. There is equality in Christ. There is not discrimination in God. You are equal in the sight of God. You are all heirs of salvation. How would that make you feel if you were a slave? How would that make you feel if youd been treated as less than human?

Remember the video that showed our team when we were working in ministry in the D.R.? There was this beautiful little Haitian girl, and they were talking to her. They told her she was beautiful. Do you remember that? You showed the media, Youre beautiful. She says, No, Im not beautiful. Im black. It just broke our hearts! Then we began to explain to her how God had made her, how God loved her. We began to share Scripture truth into her spirit, and she was like, Me? Me? She started to laugh. [She realized] she had that value and worth. Powerful! I mean you couldnt watch without crying. I watched it four times that weekend and cried every time. I stood up to preach in the Haitian church in the D.R. Here are these people that remind me so much of what it would have been like to be a slave because though theyre not beaten and theyre not property, they cant own property. They cant send their children to school. They have to fight for any kind of medical treatment. They get the worst jobs, the most deplorable living conditions, and theyre not wanted there. They get the scummiest jobs for the lowest pay, and theyre not welcome. They cant own homes, cant get an education. We worship with them in that dark room lit only by lanterns and candlelight. Theyre just loving the Lord, and I preach and I let them know, You are rich in Christ. You matter to God as much as I do.

They say, Oh, youre America. Youre from America. Youre rich. Youre important. God must love you more than He loves us. No, no, no, no. Even Pastor Jean struggles sometimes with his self-image and his self-worth. He will make me cry. Hell email me and say, I feel so badly for myself because Im Haitian sometimes, but you call me my brother, and it makes me feel like I matter. To just get up there and preach the Gospel and lift their spirits and get them to see themselves as God sees them. Thats what Paul is going to do. Hes going to say, You are one. You are one.

So hes going to raise the bar. Hes going to talk in this passage to the slave masters as well. Verse 9 of Ephesians 6, And, masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in Heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him. That was radical teaching. Slaves were property; slaves were animals; slaves were not human. He said, Treat your slaves in the same way, the same way youd want to be treated-with respect. Treat them with respect. That was radical.

In the Book of Colossians 4:1, if you want to turn there or watch on the screen, Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in Heaven. God is watching you. Do what is right and fair. God through His Word and through His Spirit, like leaven, is going to begin to lift up the values of rightness, fairness, and equality, and what were going to see next-freedom.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to a Book [that is] read very little. Its called Philemon, page 1183. The entire subject matter of this Book is on slavery. Its just a little Book. We dont talk about it a lot, but whats going on here is that Paul has a friendship and relationship with a slave owner whose name is Philemon. He has a slave by the name of Onesimus. Onesimus steals his masters money, and he runs away-risking not only prison, but risking his life; but he thinks its worth it for freedom. He steals the money and he leaves Philemon and goes to Rome. While he is in Rome, he encounters the Apostle Paul in prison. Maybe either Onesimus recognizes Paul from his visits to Philemons house, or maybe Philemon recognizes Paul. However that happens, they hook up and have a conversation. Eventually, Paul leads Philemon to Christ. He becomes a Christian. He (Onesimus) becomes a tremendous help to Paul in his ministry, and Paul says, You know what? You need to go back. You need to go back to your master. You need to go back to Philemon, and were going to ask for your freedom. Were not going to demand your freedom, but were going to ask for your freedom. So Paul writes this letter, and he puts it in the hand of the slave, Onesimus. He asks him to risk his very life, his very freedom that he has now gained-illegally-and go back and throw yourself on the grace and mercy of his master. So hes going to give this letter, and hes going to hope that Philemon reads it and agrees with it because if he doesnt, hes in big trouble. Thats the drama, and thats whats going on as we look at this Book. So lets break it down-lets look at Verse 8. At first he kind of butters up Philemon and calls him a dear friend and a fellow soldier. He tells him how great of a guy he is, how much he loves him. He tells him that he prays for him. Have you ever had somebody butter you up? Somebody gives you a call who hasnt talked to you in a while. Theyre like, Hey, man. Im telling you, boy, you are just fantastic. Youre the greatest friend! I love you! I miss you! And youre like, Okay, what do you want? What do you want? Whats up with you?

So he starts off by just telling Philemon what a great guy he is. Philemon has to be thinking, Whats this letter about? Ive not heard from old Paul in a while. Then hes going to eventually get to the news. He says, Therefore, although in Christ, I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do… In other words, Paul is an Apostle. People understand-listen, church-people understand when Paul writes a letter, its Scripture. They understand that. Peter talked about Paul when he wrote and how certain men distorted his words even as they do the rest of the Scriptures. They understood that Paul wrote with authority as an Apostle of Christ.

He says, I could force you to do this, but Im not going to do that. Im going to allow you to make the right decision by a choice.

Verse 9, …yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul-an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus…

By the way, I resent that because I know from church history when this Book was written, and I know about how old Paul was here. And if my calculations are correct, Paul is about 52 years old. I turn 50 this year. I dont like that (congregation laughing), An old man? Were going to set him straight one day.

Okay, I then, as Paul-a fairly young middle-aged man and now a prisoner of Christ Jesus-I appeal to you for my son, Onesimus.

Thats interesting here. Remember last week we talked about children, Obey your parents in the Lord and we said, That might not be little children because he uses the word offspring and not the word for a child? No matter how old you were, if your father was living, you were under his authority in that society? So we said thats the word he uses. This is the word he uses here, the same word where he says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord. He uses the male form of that word right here in talking about an adult-Onesimus. So it establishes that that could very well be the case of Ephesians 6:1, Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Hes talking to us as well.

…who became my son while I was in chains… So he says, He became my offspring, meaning that Paul led him to Christ while he was in prison, so thats what that means. Hes saying he converted to Christianity while he went to see Paul in Rome.

Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. Some scholars believe thats a play on words because the name Onesimus means useful. So hes saying, Well, he didnt used to live up to his name, but now he does. Now useful really is useful, so they think its kind of a pun. I dont know-it could be.

I am sending him with my very heart back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the Gospel. I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good… And I want you to hone in on Verse 16. …no longer as a slave. No longer as a slave, …but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me and even dearer to you both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

Paul begins to extol the virtue of freedom and equality. He is your brother in Christ. Hes not property. Hes not subhuman. Let him be no longer considered a slave, but your brother, and Paul shows his heart.

Paul upholds slavery but he recognized he had to work in and through the culture-the Spirit of God-had to work in and through the hearts of men to this very day. Notice when we leave Paul in the Bible, we leave him in the Book of Acts as an older man in prison kind of walking around teaching the Gospel, and that's how it ends. The Book of Acts ends with kind of a question, kind of an undone feeling. Have you ever been watching a movie and the movie ends, and youre surprised it ended. Youre like, Huh? What else happens? Whats next? Whats next? Of course we read the Book of Acts, and were like, Well, what happened to Paul? Whered he go? What happened to Paul in prison? What happened? It doesnt tell us. You know why? Because the Book of Acts of the Apostles is really the Acts of the Spirit. It really is. Its the Acts of the Spirit, and the acts of the Spirit continue to this day. The story of the church is still being written, so it doesnt come to this closure. It doesnt come to this finality. It is left open-ended because the acts of the Spirit continue to this day. God is still working and moving in the hearts of His people. As the Word of God lifted up freedom, as the Word of God lifted up equality and fairness, like leaven, culture would begin to rise to it.

In the 1800s, a man lived by the name of William Wilberforce who dedicated himself tirelessly to ending slavery. We heard about his story and how he worked with America and how he worked in his own country. Three days before he died, freedom was gained for the slaves in England.

We know the story of Abraham Lincoln and how he fought for freedom. We know he based his beliefs on the Judeo-Christian ethic of equality in the sight of God. I read one quote from Mr. Lincoln that Id never read before, I found it very insightful and humorous. He says-comparing himself to the shepherd, the slave owners as wolves, and the slaves as sheep, he says, The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep, which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly the wolf and the sheep are not agreed on the definition of liberty. There are still wolves out there today. Theres still injustice out there today. Theres still people that are prejudice today, people [who are treated] like property today who are abused by other people today. Theres still illegal slavery in the world today. Theres still every cause to stand up for righteousness, justice and equality and stand up against oppression-whatever form it takes.

What I want us to do right now is watch a clip from this movie-again from Amazing Grace, and were going to talk about our response. In this movie, William Wilberforce is talking to an old man. You know something about this old man, this friend of his. This old man that were going to encounter was a slave trader. He made his living off the sweat, blood and death of slaves. While hes at sea, he almost dies. He has a God encounter. He has to chain himself to something on the bow of the boat to prevent himself from being thrown into sea. There he encounters the living Christ. He changes his heart. He leaves the slave-trade business, and he becomes a pastor and a songwriter. He looks back on his life and the things he used to do, the way he used to treat people that had been made in the image of God. He is amazed at the grace of God that could save a wretch like him. His name is John Newton. I want you to listen as he confronts his past, and he encourages his friend William Wilberforce to press on in the cause of freedom. Lets watch. (You can find the clip here: http://www.wingclips.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16260&substring=amazing+grace).

They ended that-he said, Weve got some work to do, you and I, and thats what I say to you today, We have some work to do, you and I. I mean we might feel a little bit helpless because we cant-were not in law enforcement. We cant stop human trafficking. Prostitution is a form of slavery. We feel limited in what we can do there. We know that sweat shops exist and child labor and these other things-we know these things exist in our world today. We feel helpless in that regard, but we also know there are some things we can do. Weve tried to take those steps as a church.

This past year we talked about the children in our county whod been sexually abused and how they are receiving help at CARE House. The [trained staff] records the testimony of what their abuser had done to them. We mentioned that those little innocent ones that are abused need our help. The funding is gone from the GM plant. Theyre lost 40 percent of their support, and they need a new recording system. I threw that out to you. We took up an offering, and we paid cash for an $11,000 system from your generosity.

I talked to you about the Haitian church that we partner with in the Dominican Republic. I talked to you about the refugees from the earthquake, and theyre coming now and here is Pastor Jean getting up to preach. There are a hundred new faces, and they only have the clothes on their back. They have no food. They have no shelter. What is he going to do? I mentioned that to you. Without even taking an offering, we were able to take in almost $4,500 and shot it right back out that week in cash. We just sent off 600 pounds of clothing to his church for his congregation.

Were selling our recipes, our cookbooks, and every bit of that is going to buy food. Well be sending them another check at the end of this month because theres no time to just sit on it. We have to act.

Any time you stand up for the oppressed, the downtrodden, those who are treated as less than human, any time you take a stand against prejudice, you are called to be the church of Jesus Christ, to lift up these values of equality, fairness and freedom; and thats our job. I dont know why Ive never preached on the subject of slavery before. I dont know why churches dont because its all over the pages of our Bible.

Slavery was caused by mans sin. God did not institute slavery. Man did. Slavery has ended through the grace of God. Its God and His Spirit working in the hearts of man to overcome that greed and selfishness.

Abraham Lincoln said, You know you wolves out there, you think Im bad. You think Im against you being rich and owning your plantations. Im not against you being rich, but I am against you owning people as if they were property. Theyre people, and they have a right to be free. Their right to be free is greater than your right to be rich. They hated him, but he stood up for what was right.

As a church, we know there are still wolves out there, wolves in our world. There are wolves in our culture. There are wolves in our society that still try to exploit people, and as a church of Christ, we stand up against that, and we lift up these values, virtues and truths. As Gods Spirit works in us and through as leaven, we raise up the culture. We raise up the value.

I hope that thats been helpful for you today to address that subject. Maybe youve read that in the Bible before and wondered, Why does Paul say that? Hopefully thats helped answer some of those questions that you have had. We are going to continue next week in our series, and were going to talk about the armor of God. Were going to spend a few weeks on that subject in Ephesians 6-the armor of God. What is it? Why is it important? Paul says to put it on. How do we do that? So that is what we will direct our attention to in the weeks that are ahead. We just keep plodding along trying to get done with this Book before Easter.

Well, in case you havent guessed it, were talking about parenting today. Thank you to Tom and Susan for the good job you did for us this weekend (they performed a drama). We are in the last chapter of Ephesians. Wow, that was quick. That only took us about four months. Ephesians 6 is where were going to be, if you want to turn your Bibles there (page 1160).

Well, 26 and a half years ago, I became a dad for the first time. I know what youre thinking, and youre right. My wife is getting up there. But it seems like yesterday that we were leaving the hospital. The nurse was wheeling her out in the wheelchair. We had the baby, and they said, Good luck to you! Congratulations! We hope everything goes well, and youre like, You guys are coming too, right? You nurses, youre coming with us, right? Because we dont know what were doing. I can remember we put her in the car seat. She was just five pounds, three ounces-really little. We were strapping her in there and thinking, I dont know what Im doing. I mean theres no manual that comes with this kid. This kid is completely dependent upon us for everything, and I dont know what Im doing. Sometimes 26 and a half years later, I still dont know what Im doing. I mean we wish there was a manual that we could look at and say, Okay, now when this happens, what do you do? Whats the next step we need to take in this scenario? What do I do now? Parenting is just a tough job, and I didnt realize how long it would last. I didnt realize that you parent at 6, and you parent when theyre 26. Its a big job.

So Im hoping that we can help you a little bit with that job this morning. Those of you who are parents now or will be parents someday or are grandparents, Im hoping that wherever youre at, were going to share some things that will help you.

Lets begin with Verse 1 of Chapter 6. Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, and he says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. It might surprise you to know that when Paul says children, hes not necessarily talking to little children. The word that is given here is the word offspring. Now he doesnt use the word. He could have used the word for little children, but he doesnt do that. He uses the word offspring. Offspring, obey your parents in the Lord.

I need to introduce you to a Latin term which describes the societal reality of the day. Its the term, patria potesta, power of the father, paternal power, or the power of the father. In that day in Roman culture, if you were the father, you were in charge of the family to the point where you could almost say the family was your property to do with as you please. You had ultimate authority, and it didnt matter how old you were if your father was alive, he was the patria potesta for your family. So you might be 60 years old, and you would still be under the authority of your dad.

So when he says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, hes not necessarily just talking about the little runts that are running around Ephesus at that time. He could be talking to adult children as well. He says, Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother… Or give value to your father and mother. …which is the first commandment with a promise… And the promise is this, …that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. I think this is a very practical promise from Gods Word.

This word obey-there are different words for obey. This one has to do with listening or harkening. It was a military term. There is an operation right now our military is conducting in Afghanistan. I dont know if youve been following this in the news, but it is this major offensive that is undergoing right now with Afghan and United States forces. Theyre trying to surround the Taliban, so they have no place to go and squeeze them out. I watched footage of the training as all the Marines gathered around the commander, and he was telling them what they were going to do. Im telling you they were listening intently because their lives depended upon-their safety depended upon following their commander. That's the word that is here. It is to listen intently. Its to harken. He says if youll do that-if youll listen to the counsel of your parents-life will go well for you because your parents love you more than anybody, so theyre going to tell you-theyre going to try to give you advice that is helpful to you. Many times we have not heeded our parents advice, and it didnt go well, right? We could all raise our hands and go, Yeah, there are some things that I… And if you cant raise your hands to that, youve probably forgotten. If we were to play your life tape back, youd go, Oh, yeah. Numerous times.

And so its a practical promise. If we listen to our moms and dads, they have our best interest at heart; and its going to help your life go well. So were going to share some parenting principles now from Verse 4. Thats where were going to be for the duration of our time together.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

The first thing I want you to note in that verse is who does he say? Does he say moms and dads? Does he say parents? Does he say mothers and fathers? What does he say? Fathers. Why is that? Again, societal, cultural-patria potesta. He was the guy. This is not a portrait of a father who is divorced from the raising of his children. Hes out as the breadwinner, and the mom is doing all the raising and so forth while Dads out making the money. Occasionally he comes home as the disciplinarian. This was a home in which the father was central to the running of that household. So Paul is speaking-cause this is the culture they lived in-Paul is speaking to the fathers, so bear that in mind that we are talking to moms and dads today; but when Paul originally penned these words-because of the culture in which they lived, in the society to which he wrote-he writes these words on parenting, primarily to the dads. Were going to see that this blows away the myths of the macho man. Were going to see that it talks about manhood and fatherhood in a different way than some of the cultural myths and some of the cultural realities that are in our society today.

He says first of all, …do not exasperate your children… Your translation might say, Do not provoke your children to anger. Do not provoke them to anger. Some of us think it should read, Children, do not provoke your parents to anger, cause it seems like thats the way it usually is. Do not provoke your children to anger. The man in the skit that we saw this morning (the audio is available at the beginning of this file online) was angry. He was angry. Why? Did you pick up on that? Why was he angry? He was angry about two things. He was angry, number one, at neglect or perceived neglect. That is something that will manifest into adulthood. If your parents neglected you, you will find anger there. Anger was a demand; anger is a demand, and the demand is you didnt value me. You didnt love me. You didnt support me, and that will lead to anger in their lives; so thats one of the ways, parents, that we can avoid provoking our children to anger-let them know and demonstrate always how important they are to us. They not only provide physical needs, but spending time with them, affirming their value and worth to us.

I heard a story about a little boy. One day his dad came home, and he said, Daddy, can I ask you a question?

He said, Sure, pal. Whats going on?

He said, How much money do you make?

He said, Well, Son, thats kind of a personal question. Why do you need to know how much money I make?

I cant tell you, Dad, but how much money does your boss pay you an hour?

He said, Well, if you must know, Son, I make $20 an hour.

His son said, Wow! Thats a lot of money, Dad. I didnt realize that you were paid that much. Can I borrow $10?

Well, you little rascal! You just wanted to know how much money I made. When you found out I made good money, you wanted to take my money to buy some toy or something selfish like that! You go to your room right now!

He said, But, Dad!

Just go to your room! I dont want to hear it! Go to your room right now!

Okay, and the little guy trotted off to his room, and Dad started feeling bad.

Maybe I was too harsh, too judgmental. Maybe theres a good reason that he wants this money. So Dad knocks on the door. The son opens up the door. Can I come in?

Sure, Dad.

He said, Listen, I was too hard on you. I dont know what you need the money for, but heres $10.

His eyes light up, Thanks, Dad!

He reaches under his pillow, and he pulls out a bunch of ones all crumpled up. He counts out ten more, and Dad says, Why did you need more money when you already have that much money? He starts to get mad all over again.

He said, Because, Dad. Now I have $20. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Wow is right. So desperate to be with his dad, hes willing to pay for that opportunity. Sadly, sometimes children feel that way. They feel like everything comes first except for them. That neglect can rise up with an anger in their lives, provoke them to anger.

Now the other extreme, and we probably have more of these than neglecters, is the smotherers. Thats the parents who are over-protective. They never want to let their child have any freedom, never want to let their child have any freedom, never want to let their child take any risks. Theyre so over-protective, and what that does is that sends a message to the child that you dont trust me. That doesnt mean that they turn 13, and theyre on their own or turn 16 or 18 and theyre on their own. This is a gradual weaning process. You give them some freedom, and they show they can be trusted. Then you give them some more, right? Thats the text book, but some parents wont even do that. They wont give their child any freedom, and that sends a message that says, I dont trust you. Whats more, you interrupt the natural process of growing up because our job as parents is to raise them to independence. Thats our job. Its not that they can come into adulthood and still be dependent upon us. We want to train them to independence, so they can think for themselves and make right decisions. Sometimes that involves making wrong decisions and experiencing those consequences for those wrong decisions. Smothering can lead to resentment. Smothering can lead to anger as its a natural process for that child to want their freedom and to want their independence. If your child grows up and wants independence-theyre 18, 19, 20, theyre ready to go off to college-thats good! It means youve done your job. Theyre willing to stand on their own two feet. Youve done a good job.

So over-protection-you know who you are. Youre out there. Weve seen a lot of kids elbowing parents this morning when I made that point. Smothering can have negative or adverse effects as well.

Then the third one, Im going to just touch base on it briefly, and that was portrayed in our drama. That is favoritism, having a child who is favored, one over the other; and that can lead to some negative consequences. Joseph was a favorite of Jacob. In Genesis 37, we read of a tunic that his father made for him, special clothing of many colors, and it said that Josephs brothers hated him because of that. That leads to resentment among siblings, so the importance of affirming-every child is different, but affirm and value all our children all the same. Love them the same. Though theyre different and they have different skills, different temperaments, and different personalities, appreciate those differences in our children and make sure that were not showing favoritism in our home that could lead them to jealousy and resentment of their siblings or of us.

Now, lets move on in this verse. So he gives a warning, but then he gives an encouragement. Heres what you shouldnt do. Now heres what you should do. He says, Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. I want to focus in on that verb-bring them up. Bring them up. This verb is used only twice in all the Bible, so its a very rare verb. Both instances of this verb bring them up are used in the Book of Ephesians. Thats the first example in Verse 4, where he says bring them up. The second, if youd just turn one page back in your Bibles, is found in Verse 29. Paul is speaking about the relationship between husbands and wives and says, After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it just as Christ does the church. You may not see the verb there, but its there. Right there where he says he feeds, …but he feeds. Thats the same verb as we find bring them up in Verse 4 of Chapter 6. It means to nourish or to nurture. Isnt it interesting? Who is Paul talking to primarily as his audience in this verse? Fathers. And what does he say to the fathers? Nurture. Well, we think, Well, thats the moms job, right? Thats the moms job. Dad, you know, hes the tough disciplinarian guy. No, the Scripture says, Dad, if hes a true mans man, is tender. Hes involved in the physical upbringing of the child. He is helping to meet the physical needs of the child. He is involved in the nourishing and the nurturing of the child. Thats the Biblical model of a father.

I changed as many diapers as my wife changed. One of the happiest days of my life was going through the grocery store and realizing I didnt have to buy any more diapers. What a wonderful day that was! I probably twirled the cart around and danced. People thought I was probably crazy. I dont have to get diapers anymore! If I ever become a grandparent, Im going to wear a sign that says, I do not do diapers. I dont know if the Bible addresses grandparents in diapers. If it does, dont tell me about it. I dont want to hear it. Im done. But I got up in the middle of the night. I changed the children, bathed the children, and clothed the children. I was limited in how I could feed the children, but I could handle a bottle. I couldnt nurse them, but I could feed them the bottle. I got very proficient at it. By the end of the third child, I was like, phew, phew, phew, phew! I could really handle that bottle, rock them and burp them and all that stuff. Thats part of fatherhood, guys. Some of our guys out there who have young children or are going to, you should be involved in that whole nurturing process and just as involved as they grow. It involves touch and affirming through touch, hugging and telling them how much you love them. [It involves] being involved in the physical raising of that child. Its just as much the job of the father as the mother.

So Paul puts that on the father. He says nurture them. There are a couple ways that he wants the child to be nurtured. He says to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Lets talk about the word training, first of all. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 12. Look at Verse 5 (page 1193 of pew Bibles). My son, do not make light of the Lords discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves and punishes everyone He accepts as a son. So discipline is a form of love. If you love someone, youll discipline them. If you dont discipline them, its a sign that you dont love them because if you love them, you will care about their attitudes and actions and habits. This same word discipline here in Hebrews 12 is the word that we find translated training in Ephesians 6. So really Paul is speaking about discipline here. Hes saying, Discipline your children.

You know, in our society today, it seems like there are a lot of parents who want to be popular to the point where theyll forego discipline. They want to be the cool parent-the parent of so and sos mom and dad lets him do everything. They want to be that. You can either choose to be popular short-term or popular long-term. Choose to be popular long-term. Choose to be the kind of parent who uses discipline, so your children wont say, You know, when I was growing up, you wouldnt let me do this and that, and boy Im so glad now. Im so glad that you had a control over our family, that you exerted discipline in our household.

Teachers will tell you on a grade school, high school, college level of the struggle they have teaching children because they lack discipline in the home today. It becomes almost intolerable. The children that do not learn authority, that did not learn to respect authority, they dont understand discipline. Our teachers are telling you they are having a hard time. It has reached an epidemic proportion. I know who are our teachers are, and I look out over them this weekend in our services. Invariably, the teachers are looking back at me going, Yup, welcome to my world. That's what I live. They will tell you that it is-and if theyve been in the teaching profession for a long time, they will tell you that its getting worse and worse. Parents are neglecting their children, or they are not disciplining their children because they want to be the cool parent. Friends, one of the greatest privileges and responsibilities we have is to discipline our children. Dont choose to be popular. Choose to be a parent. You have minors in your home? They dont need a buddy and a pal. They need a mom and a dad who are going to guide them, instruct them and teach them morality and virtue; and thats the goal of discipline.

Verse 7 says, Endure hardship as discipline… training. God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. However, we all have human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

And so the writer talks about this. He says that that discipline is for your benefit. Its to change your attitudes. Its to change your behavior. Its to help you grow in virtues. It might be painful, but its necessary. The goal is not to punish. The goal is to teach. Sometimes children dont understand that. They think youre just trying to be mean.

I had to discipline my youngest this week. We were in a restaurant-shes 13-and they have this newfangled technology called texting. Shes got her cell phone, and we are having dinner at a local restaurant. Its family time, and were talking. I look over and shes texting a friend. I go, What are you doing?

Texting.

I said, Not now, youre not. Were having family time, so you need to text your friends and tell them that you wont be able to talk for a while. Okay?

She said, Okay. She puts the phone away. About 20 minutes later, were having conversation. I look over. I see her heads down. I go, What are you doing? Are you texting? Give me your phone. Give me your phone. She gave me the phone, didnt give me a hassle. She just gave me the phone. I said, When were having time as a family, then you need to be talking to us. Its rude for you to talk to your friends on the telephone while we are trying to have a conversation. Your attention needs to be right here. You can have this back in the morning, so you wont be talking to your friends anymore tonight. Am I trying to be mean? Do I not want her to have a social life? Am I going, Oh, my evil plan is working! Now she cannot speak to her friends. Ive cut off communication! Of course, then they just go on Facebook and find another way around it. What am I trying to teach her? Im trying to teach her some manners. Im trying to teach her about whats important, Right now, this is the time for your family, so the next time were in a restaurant, I dont even have to have that conversation with her because she knows this is the time where were doing something together as a family. This is the time were together as a family. Thats the goal of discipline. Its the goal of training or shaping that child and helping to shape their attitudes, actions and behaviors. That is the responsibility of a parent. We should not shirk that to the church or to the schools. That is our responsibility-to teach them to respect authority and to discipline them at home.

Going back to Ephesians then and trying to finish out Verse 4. He says, …bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Instruction of the Lord. This is a twofold process that involves speaking and modeling. Both are important-teaching and instructing. Deuteronomy 6, God is speaking and reiterating the law. Jesus said this commandment was the most important commandment of all-Chapter 6:4 (page 178). Lets read that together, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

You know if youre able to have a family devotion time, a structured time every week, thats wonderful. Ive had a difficult time doing that. I have to confess to you. That's been difficult, but I also think that the life is the classroom. The best times Ive talked with my children about matters of faith have been when were in a car going somewhere, were on a vacation, were going to a ball game, or were just going out and doing something together. Those are some of the most meaningful teaching times. If its in a structured setting only, thats too small. The classroom has to be life. The class is always in session, always instructing. Notice what it says. He says, You are to impress them on your children, these commandments, these truths about Me. Impress them upon your children.

Ive never understood these parents who say, My children-when it comes to my faith-Im not going to cram my religion down their throats. Im going to let them decide what they want to do. Thats up to them, however they want to serve and follow God. Thats up to them. Im not going to try to impose my beliefs on them.

Okay, heres a problem, guys. Number one, I believe that children ultimately are going to make their own choices. I dont question that, but to say, Im going to take the most important responsibility I have-teaching my children about God and about eternity-the most important thing, and Im just going to leave that up to chance. Im just going to say, Well, you know, whatever you want to do. It just does not compute and that's not what the Scripture says. We are to impress them upon our children. The highest value you have is to transfer your faith to your children. Now they could choose to reject that faith, but if youre teaching and modeling, the chances of that are pretty slim. Your modeling is important because if youre not modeling it, it really doesnt matter what you say. You say, The Lord says thus and so. The Bible says, Thus and so. But youre not doing that if youre living in hypocrisy. Your children will see through that, and theyre not going to want to have anything to do with your God and your faith. No matter what youve said, theyre going to be looking at your example; so it is both our teaching and our modeling that are important. We learn many times by viewing and seeing.

When I took a job in Rockford as an assistant pastor there, my boss had been a pastor already for 30 years by the time I got there. So here I am, green as grass. Hed been there for 30 years. Its like, Im going to learn a lot. I had this mistaken notion that we would sit down and have actual teaching times. Wed say, Okay, heres what a pastor does. Heres what a pastor says, and Id just take notes. Well, that never happened. What did happen was over that seven and a half year period, I was able to observe him-how he led our staff, how he led me, and how he handled certain crises and things in the church. When I left for Wisconsin, I said, You know Im going to have to call you every week because Im going to run into scenarios where I dont know what to do. This eight year period has really helped me, but I still have so much to learn. You know Ill be calling you.

He said, Thats fine.

Ive had to call him maybe a half a dozen times in 20 years. Thats not a lot-once every almost four years or so I make a call. What do I do now? Hes still, by the way, pasturing at age 79-same town, same church. I dont hope to be pasturing when Im 80. Ill just let you in on a little secret there. But hes still doing it.

I called him one time. I said, Listen. I dont call you a lot for advice because you did such a great job. Ill get in to situations, and Ill know what to do because Ill remember, Well, we were in a similar situation in Rockford. Heres how we handled it.

[To Pastor Lyon in Rockford], So I learned from your model. He didnt actually come down and say, Heres what you do. But I watched it, and I learned from it; so modeling is important. Modeling does not usurp the teaching. Im not saying its one or the other. It is both working together in harmony. It is instructing verbally and modeling that are both important as we seek to raise those children to know the Lord and follow Him; and you have no higher priority in your life than to do that.

What I want to do in the time we have remaining is take some time of extended prayer. I want to pray for our parents today, and then I want to pray for those who are maybe dealing with some of the anger, some of the bitterness from problems in your childhood that you could [maybe] identify with that skit today with. Maybe that stirred up some emotions in you. Im going to invite you to just bow your heads and close your eyes as we look to the Lord in prayer.

First of all I want to address you parents out here. Are there any moms and dads right now-youre just struggling? Maybe your kids are rebelling, and theyre pressuring you. You just dont know what to do sometimes. You just need some wisdom and strength. Let me see your hands right now. All right, all around this room:

Father, I just want to lift up those moms and dads. That hand is a sign of faith. It is a cry for help. They are humbly saying that they dont have all the answers and that Lord, this parenting job sometimes is overwhelming, and we wish we had a textbook we could turn to each and every page for and every scenario. But, Lord, we have You. Lord, we know that even in the Garden, in perfect conditions, idyllic conditions, Your children rebelled. We know even in the dessert, as You provided for the children of Israel, many of them rebelled against You; so even if we are the perfect parent, we can still encounter opposition from our children. Sometimes we are tempted to cave in because of their strong will and their relentless pressure. Lord, I pray that these parents would hold fast, that theyd have the courage to stick to their convictions, to live out their convictions. I pray that Youd give them wisdom and discernment in the situations that they are now facing. As they raise their hand to signify a need, there is probably a specific situation-circumstances-that are tied to that need, to that hand. I pray for wisdom and counsel by Your Spirit to guide them as they make decisions, as they take action steps-that they will be the right ones.

Lord, I want to pray now for those of us who struggle with anger. Can I see your hands if you struggle with some anger from your childhood and things that your parents did. Oh, man.

Lord, some of those memories are so fresh in our minds, and some of those wounds feel as if theyd happened yesterday. Lord, there are a lot of hurting people today. A lot of hands went up. They right now are having to deal with hurt and even anger from something that happened and sometimes even decades ago. Lord, I ask You right now because You know us better than we know ourselves. You are the great physician. You can help us better than any doctor, any psychologist, any pastor, or any therapist. You can help us better than anyone. I ask You right now to bring ministry and healing to those memories. I pray, Father, that You would bring restoration and forgiveness. Lord, in those areas where we need to make amends, I pray that wed be willing to go back to our children when possible and ask for their forgiveness for the things weve done and said that we shouldnt have said or done, the things we didnt do or didnt say that we should have said but did not. Lord, I pray that there could be steps taken for healing, for forgiveness, that were not bound to the past-the past is not repeated in our lives, that we will be able to release and be free. Certainly forgiveness does not justify wrong behavior, but what it does is it frees us to begin to rebuild and to begin to restore what has been lost. I pray right now for those whove had pain brought up today to the surface that Youd minister to them through Your Holy Spirit and that You would bring healing to them and help in this time of need. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Some of us feel a little anxiety if we are divorced or going through a divorce. You feel like, Oh, man. Theyre going to bash me this morning. Im really going to walk out of here and feel like a second class citizen. I want you to set your mind at ease. That's not going to happen today. We just love you. Were glad youre here, and we want you to be ministered to.

This topic, its involved. It can be complex. There are a lot of scenarios and trails we could go down. We are giving this a one-week shot, so Im not going to be able to go down every scenario, every trail. Im not going to be able to talk about every Scripture in the Bible that deals with divorce and remarriage. Were going to deal with some of the key issues, the key points; but Im aware that there are other trails we could go down and other Scriptures we could involve, other issues. Im aware of all that, but just within the time constraints, I would encourage you-if you still want more information on the subject-there are plenty of excellent books out there that would help you. Other resources are out there to help guide you along this path.

The third thing I want to share is that we can study these passages and the passage were going to read this morning, and there are well-meaning Godly, God-fearing Christians who can come to different conclusions on these passages. You put ten Christians in a room and ask them to share their beliefs on the end times, and you might get ten different opinions. You might say, Well you ten people talk about the spiritual gifts, if theyre for today and how they operate. Youd get ten different responses. Sometimes in that same vein, Christians can study these Scriptures and come to different conclusions as to what they mean; so I hope that you come to your conclusion on the basis of thought, prayer and study, and then well respect one anothers points of view even if we disagree. Okay? Fair enough?

So having said that, were going to begin this morning, and were going to begin with a little bit of a survey, okay? It might seem like it has nothing to do with our topic, but just kind of bear with me. Let me see the hands if you are Team Peyton this morning? Team Peyton. Let me see your hands. How many of you are Team Drew today? Good. How many of you have no idea what were doing right now? We are talking about the Super Bowl. Were talking about the quarterbacks for the Colts and the Saints and which team were going to be pulling for today. How many of you are Team Edward? Let me see your hands. Team Edward? Team Jacob? Let me see your hands, okay. Teenagers putting their hands up. How many of you dont know what were talking about? Okay, were talking about Twilight or New Moon or whatever that is. Its a movie. Are you going to be a werewolf or vampire here? You have to pick your side. One more. How many of you are Team Shammai? Then you must be Team Hillel. How many of you are Team Hillel? How many of you have no idea what I am talking about? I dont either, so… No, youre in the right place.

I want to tell you about two rabbis. These two rabbis were VIPs. Now were not going to find them in the Bible, but theyre very important to the Scripture were going to look at today because these two men were alive at the time of Jesus, and their schools were very much in their hay-day when Jesus was ministering. So open your Bibles up to the Book of Matthew 19, and were going to find that the Pharisees are coming to Jesus, and theyre going to try to trip him up on the subject of divorce. Theyre going to try to pit him against-really pit him against-Moses. Verse 3 (page 975 of pew Bibles), Some Pharisees… Remember who the Pharisees are. Theyre the religious elite. They are religious leaders. They know the Bible inside and out. They come to Jesus to test Him, and they ask him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?

What they were really asking is are you Team Shammai or are you Team Hillel? Shammai was a very conservative rabbi. Shammai actually rose to be the president of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was like the Congress and the Supreme Court rolled in to one. It was these 70 men who ruled legislatively and spiritually over Israel, and he rose to the top. Then later on Hillel would rise to the top. These two guys were polar opposites-not only in their beliefs but in their temperament. Shammai was very reserved and quiet, very restrained but yet had strong opinions; and Hillel was very passionate, very fervent, very emotional and expressed his opinions as well. Shammai said there was only one reason that you can get divorced and one reason alone. That is if there had been adultery that has been committed. So if there has been sexual sin in the form of adultery, then God will permit divorce-but only under those circumstances. Whereas Hillel taught anything goes. Your wife burns your toast, grounds for divorce. You find another woman you like better, grounds for divorce. So Hillel was very liberal in his interpretation of Scripture.

So thats what theyre saying. Can he divorce for any reason? Some reason? Are you Team Hillel, or are you Team Shammai? That was the question that was posed of Jesus.

Now what is He going to do? I want you to notice in Verse 4 a bit of sarcasm. Youre going to notice that theres a cut down here. It says, Havent you read, he replied, that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female… Do you see the cut down there? Whos he talking to? Hes talking to the Pharisees. These guys are Biblical experts. He says to them, Havent you read Genesis? You mean you havent read Genesis 2? You know the answer to this question? Dont you read your Bible? Thats a dig! Jesus even admitted. He said, You diligently search the Scriptures, He said in the Book of John, because you think that in them you have eternal life.

Biblical experts-and Jesus starts off by saying, You mean you havent read about Genesis and Adam and Eve? God made them …male and female and said, For this reason… Because I have made the woman as your help mate, because I have made you for one another. You complete one another. Because Ive made you to have companionship and designed you to be together. For this reason, …a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife… That comes from the root word to glue. What kind of glue do you think God uses? Pretty strong stuff, right? He says, Im going to glue you together, and you will be two, but one flesh. He gave the command to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth and subdue it. They were going to have offspring. Think about it. Offspring is a manifestation of the spiritual union as husband and wife, isnt it? An offspring is a physical manifestation of the oneness of husband and wife. You are one spiritually or one in the sight of God, and from that union, from that oneness comes a child who is your one flesh-who is both of you but yet his own person. So Jesus takes them right to the very beginning. This is the right person to ask this question of. As Christians we believe that Jesus simply didnt come into being in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, but He is the eternal Son of God that He has always been. There came a point in time when he entered into this world and took on flesh. Prior to that, the Bible teaches that He was at Creation. It says, All things came in to being, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come in to being. So Christ is in the Garden. He is the One who institutes marriage. He is the One who brings the covenant into being. What a better person to ask than the Lord Jesus about what marriage and divorce mean. Think about that.

Notice that Jesus is going to say, I say to you, but I say to you, in a little while. When Jesus said that, that was extremely radical. That was talking at the highest authority. He would say, You have heard it said, but I said to you… In fact there was an oral tradition. An oral tradition was written down-it was called the Talmud, and the oral tradition or the Talmud was based on mans interpretation of Gods written law. Guess what two men were very influential in the writing of the Talmud? Shammai and Hillel-very influential in the oral tradition.

So Jesus would talk about that oral tradition. He would say, You have heard it said, but I say to you…

That was unheard of. Every other rabbi would base what they were about to teach on the rabbis who had come before them. They would say, Well, you know Rabbi so and so who lived 400 years ago said this…

The people would say, Oh, well if Rabbi so and so said it, then it must be true. Jesus comes along, and He teaches radical teaching, contrary to much of the oral law-based only on the authority that Hes the One who said it. Wow!

How about if I were to come up before you this morning and say, Well, the Bible says…but I say to you…? I get up here and correct the Bible. How would that go over? Not too well, right? You wouldnt be here very long. At least you shouldnt be. Jesus says, But I say to you. So He is saying, I am going to use My authority to tell you the way it should be, and Jesus is going to go back to the original marriage. Hes going to go all the way back to Eden and say, This is the way it was supposed to be. God made them male and female, and for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, be glued to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Friends, if youre trying to have an understanding of what divorce is, you first have to understand how sacred marriage is. If you dont understand how sacred marriage is, you can become very flippant in divorce, very casual in divorce; and we see that prevalent in our society today. We see those schools of thought begin to creep even into the church. There are different schools of thought. There are those who think no divorce whatsoever. There are some Christians who think no divorce under any circumstances; you cannot get a divorce under any circumstances. They say that because in Mark 10 and in Luke 16, Jesus does not give the exception of adultery that Hes going to give here in Matthew 19 or in Matthew 5. Hes not going to do that, so they say, therefore, no grounds for divorce at any time. Other Christians say only adultery. That's the only exception, and that has two schools of thought well talk about later. There is a third group that says there are two reasons: theres adultery, and theres desertion. They cite 1 Corinthians 7, which says if you were married to an unbeliever, dont divorce them because of an unbeliever, but if they leave, they leave and youre not bound. Youre free. You can marry again, and divorce is okay. So they think that desertion is a second reason.

Then theres a fourth school of thought which seems to be very prevalent and that is anything goes. Thats Team Hillel. You dont feel like you love them anymore. Thats good enough. Youre not getting along anymore. You dont see eye to eye anymore. The passion is not there. Well, thats good enough. I dont love you anymore. Listen, what God says about love is very different than what we say about love. When he says, I dont love you anymore, or she says, I dont love you anymore, it means I dont feel passionate toward you. I dont feel sexual feelings toward you. I dont feel intimacy toward you.

The Bible says the word love is much more than that. Its the word agape. Its the God kind-of-love that were to love our spouses with. Its not based upon our emotions, but its based upon our will. It is a decision we make whether our emotions line up with it or not that I am going to seek your highest and best as my spouse. Over the passing of time if emotions wane, Im still going to seek your highest and best. What happens when we do things the right way, when we love our husbands and wives with an agape love, we find emotions begin to conform to our actions rather than letting our actions dictate what we do or dont do. We let Gods Word dictate to us.

See, you always go back to the original. You dont look to society. You dont look to culture. You dont look to the popular authors of the talking heads on TV to tell you, What does marriage look like? You go to the source of marriage. You go to the first one and say, What did that look like? What was that intended to be? A man and a woman for life. A man and a woman for life-you go to the original. If youre cutting something, always cut by the original. You measure and cut the original, and then every subsequent copy, you go back to the original because otherwise youll be off. If youre trying to base your measurements and cutting on that sixth piece that you cut off, its going to be wrong. Go back to the original.

You want to see what the church of the Lord Jesus is supposed to look like? Read Acts 2. Read the first church and how they treated one another and how they lived and responded. You go to the original.

The same is true with our words. How many of you have had words distorted because somebody has taken something out of context or its repeated? Second, third, fourth, sixth person, and finally that sixth person comes back to you. Theyll obey what the Bible says, and theyll go right to the source and say, Did you say this or did you do that?

Youre like, What? No! Anybody [out there that] that happened to? Let me see your hands. It gets so distorted and perverted that by the time it gets back to you, its like, That was not my intent. That was not the context. Thats not what I said. Heres the truth, so you go back to the source. So Jesus takes them back to the source, and heres what it is: God designed marriage. God created marriage. Its a covenant that He established. Its one man, its one woman, and its for a lifetime. Therefore, God permits divorce-were going to read about that, but divorce is not in His perfect will-if anything falls short of Gods perfect ideal, its called sin. Now that does not mean if you seek a divorce on Biblical grounds, youve committed sin. What Im saying is that divorce is from the will of man, not the will of God because Jesus is very clear of what the will of God is. Sin means to fall short. Its an archery term; thats where it came from. Hamartia-you shoot an arrow, and if you miss the target, youve committed sin. Youve committed Hamartia. Youve fallen short of your goal. Youve not hit the bulls-eye. Youve missed. So heres Gods ideal, and anything less than Gods ideal is sin. It misses the mark. Some of you say, Well, boy. I didnt know about this, and Ive divorced, and I really didnt have Biblical grounds. Well talk about that. Ive got some good news for you too as well. Divorce is not the unpardonable sin. God offers grace, forgiveness, and restoration to you.

We think about the woman at the well who in John 4 had been married five times and was living with a man that was not her husband. What did Jesus offer for her? Condemnation or restoration? He gave her a new start. God can forgive you and give you a new start.

We always go back to the original, and that is what we form our opinion on-not upon what is popular in culture of society because society and culture at that point had deteriorated, so that it was nothing like what God had intended it to be-nothing like that. So they ask a follow-up question of Jesus. Theyre a little bit confused. It says, Why then did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away. Theyre making it sound like Moses commanded divorce. Moses never commanded divorce. Moses permitted divorce.

Jesus replied, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard, but it is not the way it was from the beginning. Its not the way God intended it to be, and its not the way that it should be. Gods intention and plan have not changed.

So He talks about the ideal first. Next Hes going to talk about the real, but lets take a look. What does He mean when they say, Well Moses said certificate of divorce… Lets look on the screen to Deuteronomy 24:1. This is from Deuteronomy 24 (page 194), and this is the passage that these men were referring to. It says, If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house… That's it. That's how easy it was to get a divorce. There was no judge. There were no lawyers. There wasnt tons of paperwork, dividing of assets. You would write a letter called a Writ of Divorce. Two witnesses would sign off on that letter, youd give it to your wife, and youd say, Were done. Youre free to marry somebody else. Heres this loophole, this big black hole if you found something indecent with your wife. What does that mean? What does indecent mean?

Shammai said indecent means only if there is sexual sin, and Hillel said anything-anything, any reason. Shes just no longer acceptable to you. Sadly, thats pervaded into the church-that we think we can just-whatever the grounds, we can divorce.

Ill never forget when I was a pastor in Rockford, an assistant pastor, it was a Wednesday night and we were preparing our talk. A couple came to me and they said, We have to talk to you because were going to get a divorce.

I said, Well, its Wednesday night. Weve got church. Were really busy. Can I see you tomorrow?

No, we have to talk to you now. If we dont talk to a pastor now, our marriage is over with.

It was like, Really? I dont want to be responsible for your marriage ending, so if its that much of an emergency, come on in. So the couple came in and sat down. Id never seen them before. I said, Okay, well whats going on? Whats the big, big emergency here?

She said, Well this is my second marriage. I have a son through my first marriage.

I said, Okay.

She said, He disciplines him when he comes over to the house, and I dont like it.

He said, Well, if hes in my house, then Ive got a right to discipline him.

She said, No, you dont. Hes my son, not yours. She said, He sits at the table and he chews his food, and he yells at him for chewing his food too loud!

He said, He does chew his food too loud, and he does it on purpose to irritate me!

He doesnt do it on purpose! He has to. He has an overbite.

No he doesnt! He just does it to make me mad!

No…

Im like, Wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out! Time out! Time out! Lets not deal with that right now. Lets deal with the real issues. Why are you here today? What has causing your marriage to end? Guess what I found out? It never got any deeper than that. That was the reason that they had to see me that day. That was the reason their marriage would end if they didnt talk to a pastor. I was thinking, Youve got to be kidding me! You have got to be kidding me! I just remember giving them a lecture about where Jesus sets the bar, and He sets it high.

Theyre like, Wow! I dont know what happened to them. I never seen them before. I have no idea how that story ended, but probably-I dont know. I dont know what to say, but I reminded them of the covenant of marriage, where God has set the bar, and what marriage is.

I mean listen to the response of the Disciples in Verse 10, not the Pharisees, but the Disciples. After Jesus says this about marriage, the Disciples got all choked up. Then they said, If this is the situation between a husband and a wife, it is better not to marry.

Wow! If this is the level of commitment you have to have, its probably better not to get married, isnt it? Wow! You really have to be serious because in their society, marriage had become disposable, just like in ours. Sadly just like sometimes in the church. Now Jesus gives an exception here. He does not give this in Luke; He does not give this in Mark, but He does talk about this twice in the Book of Matthew. He says in Verse 9 (back to Matthew 19, page 975), I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.

Hes saying because of your sin, God will allow this. God will permit this in this situation when vows are broken. Two schools of thought: there are some who say this is only adultery. If youre married and you have a relationship, a sexual relationship, with somebody else other than your husband or wife, thats the only grounds for divorce. Theres another school of thought which believes that it is sexual immorality-which is a much broader term than just adultery. Notice that there are two words in this passage. One says marital unfaithfulness, and one says, adultery. Those are not the same words, and theyre not synonymous in their meaning. The first two words here come from one word. Where it says marital unfaithfulness, it comes from one word in the Greek, which is the word porne (pronounced por-ne-a). We get the word pornography from it. It means sexual immorality. Sexual immorality. So it is a broader term. If Jesus wanted to say adultery, then He would have used the word adultery here, but He does not do that. He doesnt say, But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for adultery in marriage and marries another woman commits adultery. He uses an entirely different word.

If theres a situation where a spouse is having an affair with somebody of the same sex, that is porne. If theres a situation that there is incestuous behavior on behalf of a parent, that is porne. That is sexual immorality. There are others we could talk about where there has been an indecent sexual act that has violated that marriage covenant. There are many who believe that that as well is grounds for divorce. Whatever the situation, I strongly believe that our first option is not to run to a lawyer or to a judge, but our first option should be that of reconciliation-especially as believers, our goal should be to save the marriage when possible, when it is right to do so. There are some situations. There was a situation in the media. This is not gossip. It was all over the news of a governor who had an affair. The affair was discovered, and he went in and had an awkward press conference. His wife chose not to stand by her man at the press conference, but she did decide to try to reconcile the relationship; but he would not end his relationship with this woman from another country. He still wanted to see her. That was his soul mate. Well, what is she supposed to do then? At that point, she had to seek a divorce because he was continuing to be unfaithful to his vows and unfaithful to her. In that situation, according to what I understand from Matthew 19 and Matthew 5, Jesus says God permits it in that situation. We believe that reconciliation is the first goal, but reconciliation is hard work. There are a lot of people that will whisper in your ear when youre going through marital difficulties, Just divorce him. Just divorce her. Take the easy way out, but it is impossible to rip apart one flesh without there being suffering, without there being heartache. So God says the first desire is to be reconciled with our mate, and that takes hard work. It takes owning our sin, owning our part of the relationship or the things that we have done wrong, the things that we have said that are wrong, the things that we should have done that we didnt do. It requires forgiveness to the person who has been wronged. Usually thats mutual of forgiving one another of the harms and the wrongs theyve done. It requires communication. It requires changing patterns of behavior and patterns of speech. It is hard work, but if we will commit to God and to one another, marriages can be reconciled; and you can find that that union is stronger than it was before if couples will commit to that end.

Our production team has put together a media. Im very proud of them. I think its one of the best things theyve ever done. It is put to a song called, While Im waiting, which gives us a word picture of what Ive talked about. I want us to listen now to that song. (Lyrics can be found at: http://www.lyricsmania.com/while_im_waiting_lyrics_john_waller.html).

Marriage

Were going to get into Ephesians, and were going to be talking about husbands today, so I know wives have been spending the week sharpening your elbows. Hopefully husbands, you purchased elbow pads and made your wife put them on today. Ill try to be as gentle as possible with you guys, but I do want to address some things that Ive heard in the news. I think it was kicked off most prominently through the words of Pat Robertson. And I understand that his ministry has done some good things in Haiti and in the aftermath. I appreciate that very much, but theres been a lot of talk in Christian circles about whats going on in Haiti as being a judgment from God because of a voodoo ritual that took place that they made a pact with the devil. Although if folklore is correct, it was a voodoo god. [People are saying] that this has come upon them because of that curse.

You know what? I think we are on very dangerous ground when we start connecting the dots and saying, Well, this judgment happened because of this. God did this because of that. Thats very dangerous ground to be on. We can connect certain dots in the Bible in history because the Bible talks about this happened because of that, but we cant do that here; and we cant do that with future events. So unless youre a Prophet on par with Elijah or Jeremiah or something, its best not to even go there.

Jesus was addressing some followers about this very question-about why evil and suffering take place. Is it because of Gods judgment over mans sin? Is that why these things take place? In the Gospel of Luke 13:1 (page 1032 of pew Bibles), it says, Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. What probably had happened here was Pilot, who was the governor and a Roman official, had maybe tried to stomp out some insurrectionist; and it killed those who were rebelling against the authority of Rome near the temple grounds or on the temple grounds. It caused that holy place to be a place of bloodshed. So theyre talking to Jesus about this, Well, how could this happen? Theyre either coming from the point of why do bad things happen to good people? or How could Pilot do something like this? They want some answers. They want Him to get philosophical with them and explain to them why this happened to these people, and Jesus refused to go there. He says, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?

Because they suffered… Does that mean they were bad people? What do you think? Theres a pause there as they probably debate this and maybe go back and forth and share their opinions.

Then Jesus gives the answer, and He says, I tell you, no! No. They were not worse people. God wasnt punishing them here because of their sin. He says, But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Now the word perish here-He doesnt mean simply die. Everybodys going to die, right? Hes not talking about death. This word means to destroy. Hes talking about eternal death. Hes saying, Listen, youre a sinner too. We like to think, Oh, this couldnt happen to me; but we live in a very fragile world. We live in a world where we just dont know whats going to happen. Sometimes good people suffer as well as evil people. He says the main thing you need to do is you need to make sure youre right with God. Then He goes on, and He tells them another story. He says, Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?

In other words, it was some sort of a wrong place, wrong time event. A tower fell; innocent people died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time just like in the quake. If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, theres a good chance you perished in that quake in Haiti. Jesus is saying, Did these people die from this freak accident because of their sin? Did God cause this tower to fall on them because of judgment? Im sure there were people speculating about that at that time. They were probably sending emails to each other back and forth, What do you think? Is this Gods judgment here with the tower of Siloam? Jesus says, No, that's not the reason the tower fell on them. He says, But you know what? Youre sinners too. You need to make sure youre right with God.

These kinds of events tell us about the fragileness of life and the uncertainty of life-that we need to always live in a right relationship with God.

Ive heard stories of people being pulled through the rubble in Haiti, and what Ive heard is tremendous stories of faith. Ive heard all kinds of people say, Jesus sustained me. Jesus helped me. There are some Godly people in Haiti; some of the most Godly people I have ever met in my life are the Haitians. We ministered to them last year and the two years before that. They are some of the most Godly people you will ever want to meet on the face of the earth, the Haitians.

I understand voodoo is a bad thing. I mean if were going to say that God has brought this judgment on Haiti because of these voodoo practices, then He could open up our earth and swallow us in America tomorrow because weve done some pretty bad things too. Im just sharing that with you, that I think its a dangerous thing to start connecting dots and going, Well, God did this to these people because of that. If that were true, would our response be any different? Would we still not be compelled to reach out with the love of Christ and minister and help those who are hurting and dying? Children were trapped under rubble-orphanages, hospitals, for goodness sakes-people who God loves, and we are compelled to reach out and minister to them.

So every time these natural disasters occur or these inhumane acts to man, I always hear these this is that. This is that [comments]. It just makes my blood boil, and I just wanted to share that with you this morning. So thats a free sermon and no extra offerings.

Right now, were going to direct our attention to Ephesians; but before we do that, we are going to show a little clip. One of my favorite movies is Rocky. I really liked [Rocky] I and II. I thought those were well done. I thought they taught good values, courage and faith, loyalty, perseverance; so [Rocky] I and II, I thought were excellent. The next 12, not so much; but then when he came around with that last one, Rock Balboa, and he wrapped things up, that was a really good movie. If youve not seen the last installment, that was excellent. When we think of a mans man and how Hollywood portrays a mans man-rugged, tough, spitting nails… From what I see in that film, Rocky was a good husband. He did a lot of the things were going to be talking about today. He was a tender and compassionate man. This clip isnt long, but lets watch this short clip from Rocky Balboa as he says good-bye to his wife Adrian, his faithful companion in life.

If you were a woman growing up in a Hellenistic Greek culture, you were a wife, you were the property of the man. He could write a letter and dismiss you if he grew tired of you. He didnt even need to have any grounds for his divorce other than he was tired of you. It was understood in that culture that he was going to have concubines for his pleasure. It was also understood that he may engage in relations with the temple prophetesses and the worship of Artemis. That was simply an acceptable part of the Greek culture. So your job was to kind of stay behind the scenes, run the household and take care of things. You tried your best to please him, and you lived in a little bit of fear and trepidation because at any time, you could be dismissed. Divorce and remarriage were rampant. It was not uncommon to have wives in the double digits. So into this society and into this culture, it is difficult to conceive.

Paul talks about the wife, and he elevates her place in the home to a height and a level that was not seen before. He says in Verse 25 (of Ephesians 5, page 1159 of pew Bibles), Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…

Were going to be talking about these three manifestations of love in which Christ loved the church. Talk about raising the bar high. Paul takes a bar that was down here, and he raises it to a height that no man can attain. There is no man here that can attain the standard to which Paul has just raised. Christ loves the church with a perfect and complete love that we will not measure up to. I mean itd be like the board telling me, Hey, listen. Unless you preach like Billy Graham every Sunday, were going to have to let you go.

Id say, Let me go now, then, because I cant do that. Somebody tries to hold you to an unattainable standard. Your son or daughter is going off to college to study business and start a business, and you say, Listen, unless you make as much money and are as successful in business as Bill Gates, Ill disown you.

Hey, disown me now because that's probably not going to happen. I mean thats a really high standard!

And so, Paul says, You must love your wives as Christ loved the church. I realize today now that not everybody here is a husband. Some of you are husbands; some of you will be husbands; some of you were husbands; some of you will be husbands again; some of you maybe not for many years, but I want to talk with you this morning about our responsibility as husbands. I stand before you today, no paragon of what a husband is. I certainly have not been a perfect husband. You may feel free to talk to my wife and ask her how I score out on all the things I may be talking about today. Shes right here in the front row. You can talk to her. Shell be happy to answer those questions. Thats fine; thats a fair game, but Im just telling you right now, Im not a perfect husband. I fall short, and we all do; but that does not mean that we dont strive. That does not mean that we dont seek to attain the standard which God has established for us.

So number one is Christ loved the church. Christ loves us with the sacrificial love. Christ loves us with a sold-out love. He loves us to the point where He gave His life for the church. The highest priority on Gods list is our souls, our spiritual well-being; so Christs number one mission when He came to this earth was to make payment for sin, was to bring us back into a right standing with God. In the Book of Hebrews 12:2 (page 1193), the topic is on perseverance. The topic is on faith, not giving up and running the race, finishing strong. Some have other theories about who wrote Hebrews [besides Paul], but the author is going to be saying look, heres our standard. Lets keep our eyes on Jesus… Verse 2, …the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. For the joy set before Him… What kind of joy is he speaking about here? Is it the joy of Heaven? Is He looking forward to Heaven when the suffering of the cross will be over, and Hell be in eternity? Is that what hes speaking of? I believe the joy that is set before Jesus is redemption of His people. I believe thats why Jesus endures the cross, not just the physical suffering of the cross, but the spiritual suffering-the weight of sin that was placed upon Him-our sin-was put up on Christ on the cross. Jesus bore that sin and suffered in a way that you and I can never begin to understand.

When He dies, He says, It is finished. The debt has been paid-tetelestai. The debt has been paid.

That was what was on His mind. That was what was on His heart-to bring back and restore that which had been lost in the fall. His highest priority was to restore us to our fellowship with God, that we could come into the presence of God, know grace, know forgiveness and know eternal life. Husbands, the highest priorities you have is to look after the spiritual needs of your wife, to make sure that she is growing in God, to help her as she serves God.

Ive now been a pastor-this May-it will be 28 years in full-time ministry. Then if you talk about full-time preparation, it was many years before that; so Ive been at this a long time, and I learned very early on. I had a friend whose wife had written him a letter, and she talked to him about the imbalance of his life because he was never home. He was gone seven nights a week. She wrote about her frustration, her anger and her hurt. He kept that in his Bible, and he showed it to me really early on. I came home, and I said, Honey, if I ever do that to you, would you please let me know because my first obligation of ministry is to her. Thats my first obligation of ministry. I have other responsibilities, but none greater than to my wife; and so thats priority number one, gentlemen-ministering to our wives spiritually.

Now theres another priority that he speaks about in the Book of Ephesians 5. He says, …to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. This word holy is very important. Some of your Bibles might say to sanctify.

Christ loves us secondly with a sanctifying love or a set-apart love. To sanctify something means to set apart for a sacred purpose. It comes from the root word hagios, which means different. The word holy means different. The Bible is a holy Bible because it is different than any other book. Its divinely-inspired. In this Book, we read the name of a king who is going to bring revival to the people of Israel. Hundreds of years before He is born, Josiah is called by name. In this Book, we read of a king who is going to speak the word for Israel to go back and begin to reassemble and rebuild the temple and begin to worship again in the Israel. His name is Cyrus, and hundreds of years before he is born, the Prophet Isaiah names him by name. We read about a King who will be born in Bethlehem whose days are from the days of eternity, about the life He will live, the death He will die, the sacrifice He will make, and His resurrection hundreds of years before He fulfills them in the person of Christ. The Bible is a supernatural Book, and so therefore it is holy and special.

Jesus exalts the church. Jesus says to the church, You are special. Ive given my life for you. Ive redeemed you. And, husbands, we have a responsibility to love our wives with a sanctifying and a set-apart love.

In the Book of Genesis 2, if youll turn there please, there is a passage, a Scripture, where God brings Eve to Adam. When I was preparing for ministry, one of my favorite professors was Dr. Linton. Dr. Linton was a Hebrew scholar, and he could read Hebrew from the text, from the Torah, like you and I could pick up and read a magazine. He understood nuances of words. It was just a fascinating class. To this day, he is my favorite professor at any level-grade school-junior high, high school, college, graduate school; he is my favorite professor. He would just teach us so much. He talked one day about what was going on here. Adam was looking for a helpmate, and there was no helpmate to be found; yet God made him for companionship. Here in the Garden, it says no helpmate was to be found; so God causes him to sleep, removes the rib, and He fashions a woman and brings her to the man. Adam sees her, and for a moment they look at one another. He looks at this person who is like him but very different from him at the same time. He likes what he sees. He says, This is bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. She shall be called ishshah because she was taken out of ish. That's how you say that in Hebrew. He says, this is. He doesnt say it like this. He doesnt go (in a monotone voice), This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman… This is one lonely guy, and he has seen all this life, but theres no helpmate for him. Hes feeling very alone, and God creates this perfect mate. He sees her, his eyes get big, and his eyebrows go up. He smiles and Professor Linton said it doesnt really translate into our English Bible. He says, The closest word we can find that I can think of to tell you, class, is Adam says, Eureka! Whoa, God, You did fantastic! This is the one I have been looking for! Wow! Eves emotional tank is full now. I mean she just feels so esteemed and so valued as he affirms her, This is the one Ive been looking for.

Can you imagine you are in an interview, and your potential employer interviews you and says, Youre the one this company needs! You are the one we have to have! Man, I have interviewed a lot of applicants, and I cant find anybody who compares to you. You are the person that we need, that this company needs! Youre hired! Your emotional tank is full when you leave that office. Youre like, Wow!

If somebody builds into your life and tells you how much worth you have and sets you apart as something special or someone special. That is affirmation, isnt it?

Any other collectors out here? I collect stuff. Anybody else collect stuff? Maybe you have something valuable. Dont worry-were not going to rob you. Its okay. You collect stuff, and maybe you have some stuff thats really rare. Maybe its in plastic or in glass or framed, or maybe its in a safe or maybe even a safety deposit box where you show people because it has value. Its rare and people want it. Maybe it has value because of who gave it to you and the significance of it. Its an heirloom. Maybe someone very special made you something, and so for that reason, Wow! This is really something. You treasure it, and you tell people about it. Its set apart; its unique; its of great value.

Paul says, Husbands, we are to value our wives in this way. They are to be set apart. They are to know that they are unique, to know that they are special, and you are to affirm them. Jesus affirms the church. He told us how special we are, how much He loves us. Husbands, affirm your wives. Tell her how special she is; tell her how much you love her; tell her how wonderful she is; how thankful you are to her; fill her emotional tank. Let her know that she is unique in your life.

Now theres a third attribute that is discussed in Ephesians 5. It says, In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it…

Some of your translations might read nourishes or cherishes it.

…just as Christ does the church-for we are members of His body. Now Paul talks about something very physical. He talks about, Guys, love your wives as you care for yourself. We care of our bodies. We keep our bodies clean. You may exercise; you may try to eat healthy; you groom; you comb your hair and cut your hair. You brush your teeth and all of that. If you have a wound, you minister to it physically. You put a band-aid on it or a brace on it, whatever it is. If youre sick, you take care of yourself. You take medicine. If youre cold, you put on a coat or a sweater or something. You take care of your body. Youre gentle with your body, and you take care of it. This is talking here about physical love. Isnt it amazing that God here is talking in this passage about the kinds of love that we are to have for our wives, and He talks about the spiritual; He talks about the emotional; and He talks about the physical-to love our wives in all three of those dimensions.

Now Brenda had a procedure done recently. It was where they had to put the scope down and explore the esophagus and the stomach. It was a precautionary thing. Everythings okay, and I ask you not to ask Brenda about it; so dont go up to her and go, What was wrong? Its okay. She had a procedure. It was precautionary; its fine, and that's all anybody needs to know, so she went to the hospital and she had this done. Now I had to go with because they give you this drug that gives you this little bit of amnesia, so youre not going to remember what the doctor said afterwards. I have to be there to listen to the doctor and to drive her home because shes going to be drowsy, possibly a little bit nauseous; so she goes through this procedure, and she comes out. Shes kind of groggy, and I say, Everythings okay.

She goes, Its all done?

Its all done.

Oh, good. She closes her eyes. They roll her in the corner and let her kind of slowly wake up. About 20 minutes or so later, the machine beeps. Beep. On cue, she opens her eyes, Is it done?

Its done.

Am I okay?

Youre fine.

Oh, good. She closes her eyes. About a half hour later, beep. She opens her eyes, Am I okay?

Yeah.

Is it all done?

Its all done.

They find anything?

They didnt find anything. Go back to sleep.

Okay. All right, good. Its time to wake up. The nurse is there.

Lets go home.

Oh, is it all done?

Yeah. This conversation was going on, you know. Shes sleeping in the car. Finally I said Im going to have a little fun with this, like that movie 50 First Dates.

So she would go, So, are we done with it already? Are we going home now?

Yeah.

Whatd they find out?

Youve got no stomach!

I dont have a stomach?

No. They couldnt find it. They were down there exploring it. Theres no stomach. He doesnt know how you even eat. Youre going to lose a lot of weight now because they just sealed up your esophagus. You dont need to eat anymore because you dont have a stomach.

That doesnt seem right. Zzzzzz.

I had some more fun with that too, just that dark humor coming out in me. I had to take care of her. Shes coming home, and Im ministering to her. Now Im giving her ice water and ice chips and making sure shes covered. She has her bucket there if she needs it. Im checking on her and giving her her medicine. For about 24 hours, Im having to provide TLC here and minister to her.

Hes talking here about ministering physically. …as you take care of your bodies, love your wives. Hes talking about the importance of touch and affirmation.

I say to my wife, When do you most feel loved?

She says, I like it when you put your arm around me. If Im putting my arm around her at church, at a movie, or wherever, she likes that. Affirming touch. Stroking your wifes back, rubbing her neck, kissing her cheek, giving her a hug, minister to her physical needs-thats important. That helps her to feel loved.

So Paul is dealing with the totality of man. Hes saying, Minister to her physically, spiritually, emotionally. Minister to your wife. Love your wife as Christ loved the church.

Now a couple practical things to help you with doing this: If youre really brave, ask your wife, How am I measuring up? How am I doing in these areas? Youre going to find out, wives, if your husbands are chicken or not. Then wives, you need to say how hes doing in each of these areas. Ive tried to explain it in such a way that you can remember it when you go home, so talk about it.

Heres when I feel loved. Heres when I dont feel loved. Heres… Talk about how you can improve as a husband.

Secondly, once youve done your homework, find a buddy. Find a friend and say, Hey, listen. We were talking at church about being better husbands, and as head of my household, I want to love my wife as Christ loved the church; so heres where Im falling short. Can you hold me accountable in this? Youre giving that brother permission to talk to you and ask you questions about your marriage and how youre doing in a certain area; so thats your homework for the message today. That's what I want you to work on.

Now next week, were going to stay on this topic. As you can see in the passage, it talks about oneness, so were going to finish out Chapter 5 in talking about oneness, the oneness of marriage and what that means.

Before we take care of other church business and what not, lets bow for prayer:

Father, I pray that our husbands would be the heads that Youve called them to be, that they would love their wives as Christ loved the church. We thank You for setting the bar high, that our comparison is not with another individual. Our comparison is none other than to the perfect love of Christ for His church. We have been sold a line of goods that a mans man spits out nails, is tough and never cries. Hes kind of hard and cold, and thats not the case. A man is a man who is loving. He takes care of his family. He ministers to his wife. Lord, I pray that You would help us to seek to live up to that standard. I pray that where there is correction that needs to be done in marriages, that by Your grace and through Your Spirit, Youd bring that correction this week and we would partner together as husbands and wives to work on our marriages, to help them to be accurate reflections of Christ in His church. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.