Leaving Laodicea

When we are faced with either believing God’s Word or the prevailing, confusing, and ever-changing voices of our culture, many Christians find themselves in a conundrum. They want to believe everything God’s Word says, yet they don’t want to be called a bonehead by their high school biology teacher or to be deemed anti-science by the pro-vac crowd. So we frantically look for some rules to help us understand what the Scriptures say about everything, and then we adopt those rules as the parameter of His sovereignty and try to funnel our understanding of His truth through this grid we have created to help us save face among our friends in this declining culture.

Over the centuries, there have developed several methods of Biblical interpretation, or grids, that are used to set the parameters of our understanding of Scripture. These methods are collectively called the study of hermeneutics (Greek – to interpret, to translate). But not all hermeneutics are created equal. And the method of interpretation you embrace will determine the conclusion you have about both current and future events.

For example, do you believe the Bible is the Word of God, or does it contain the Word of God? And if you say the Bible is the Word of God, we are talking about all the Bible, the miracles, the creation events, the teachings about male and female roles, and the specific two genders God created. This is an example of a personal hermeneutic. For your answer to the question about God’s Word will determine how much weight you give it in your own life and what authority God has, at least in your eyes, in human events.

So it is vitally important to settle for yourself the hermeneutic you will embrace to understand these prophetic Scriptures. Do they mean what they say, or can we allegorize the text to make it say whatever helps us sleep better at night? It is either one or the other. You cannot have it both ways.

Setting hermeneutics aside for a moment, let me close by giving you a few tips to help you understand the prophetic Scriptures we will look at in the weeks to come.

First, God wants you to understand what He said. His Word, after all, was written to be read and understood. So expect Him to speak and reveal His truth to you as you study these sometimes confusing prophetic passages.

Next, God’s word has allegory, parables, signs, symbols, eyewitness descriptions, etc., yet the text has only one meaning. And that meaning for us was the intended meaning when it was given. Therefore, when you encounter symbols or signs, look for the “built-in” interpretations given by the Holy Spirit within the text itself. You can see examples of these built in interpretations all throughout the Revelation.

Next, compare parallel passages. After all, since the Bible originates by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, much of what is revealed in one section is also discussed in another section. Rarely (almost never) does one Scripture contain all that the Bible says about a given topic. So watch God’s Word interpret itself elsewhere in Scripture. It’s a wonderful thing to behold.

Then, be aware of time intervals. For example, the church age was a mystery that was not yet revealed when Daniel wrote about the future (Eph. 3). And for this reason, some Old Testament prophets sometimes blend the two comings of Christ. These intervals are called “prophetic skips.”

Finally, be sure to distinguish between filled and unfulfilled prophecies in Scripture.

Now, armed with these tips, let’s look at what the Lord reveals to us about our current situation and the times ahead.

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

556: How to Surrender Your Thought Life to Christ

555: Are You Going to Church or Being the Church?

554: Solomon’s Life: “Stupid Is as Stupid Does”

553: Don’t be Like King Solomon, Choose Wisely

552: The Importance of Finishing Life Well

In God’s word, some of the hardest things to obey are the sanctification passages that are specifically our responsibility to fulfill. These are passages like the command to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17), or “to walk by the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). We all agree these are the commands of God we are to obey. After all, we can read them for ourselves in Scripture. But what is often missing are the “hows” to obey His commands. We know what to do, but struggle in how to actually make it happen. So today we’re going to look at just one of these often difficult to follow commands: How to surrender our thought life to the obedience of Christ.

The verse that commands us to surrender our thought life to Him is found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. Here, the apostle Paul shares four things we can achieve when we fight our battles with spiritual power instead of just relying on our own strength. In this lesson, let’s just focus on the third point and see what we can learn from it.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for (1) pulling down strongholds, (2) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, (3) bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and (4) being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled – 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

Let’s look at the third command, 1 Corinthians 10:5, a bit closer.

(you, implied) bringing every (pás) thought (nóēma – a concept of the mind, what a person is thinking about, their purpose, disposition, intention) into captivity (aichmalōtízō – to lead captive as a prisoner of war, to subdue, to bring into subjection, to assume power over someone and to take someone captive) to the obedience (hupakoḗ – the state of submission, compliance, and conformity to an authority) of Christ.

But how is that done? What are some practical steps we can follow?

Let me give you four general steps to taking control of your thought life and bringing it into submission to the Lord. But note, this process is a process of replacement. Using Philippians 4:8 as a foundation, we are to replace our carnal and sinful thoughts with God’s truth. And we do this by rejecting one and embracing the other. Here are the four general steps to find freedom for your thought life.

One, you must begin by recognizing sinful, harmful, or negative thoughts about God, others, or yourself.

Two, you must learn how to replace these thoughts with God’s truth – Philippians 4:8.

Three, then you must learn how to guard your mind – Proverbs 4:23.

Finally, like everything else, you must choose to surrender your thought life to the Lord by learning how to reject wrong thinking and embrace truth.

One last thing, to help you in this reject and embrace process, let me give you ten practical areas of your life where you can put these into practice, along with some scriptural support. If you begin to put these into practice, I believe you will see immediate results in your journey of surrender to the Lord.

•  Reject anger and embrace forgiveness – Ephesians 4:26-27.

•  Reject worry and embrace trust – Matthew 6:25-26, Philippians 4:6-7.

•  Reject pride and embrace humility – Philippians 2:2-4.

•  Reject fear and embrace faith – 2 Timothy 1:7.

•  Reject lust and embrace purity – Matthew 5:28.

•  Reject bitterness and embrace forgiveness – Ephesians 4:31-32.

•  Reject selfishness and embrace generosity – 1 Timothy 6:17-18.

•  Reject gossip and embrace edification – Ephesians 4:29.

•  Reject unbelief and embrace faith – Hebrews 11:6.

•  Reject hatred and embrace love – 1 John 2:9-10.

By developing this discipline, you will begin the process of having your mind renewed (Rom. 12:2), and be able to control your thought life and give Him the glory He deserves.

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

To download the notes for this message, click – HERE

555: Are You Going to Church or Being the Church?

554: Solomon’s Life: “Stupid Is as Stupid Does”

553: Don’t be Like King Solomon, Choose Wisely

552: The Importance of Finishing Life Well

551: Trying to Serve God Without Even Knowing Him

This is a question we should ask ourselves each time we trek off to a worship service on Sunday mornings. What is church or what is church supposed to look like? Is church a building? Or is it something more? Is it something we do or something we become? And if church is something we do, how do we do it? How do we “do” church? But if church is something we become, then how do we become the church and what takes place in us to become His church? Whew. See the problem with simple words and changing definitions?

From a doctrinal standpoint, the church is defined as “the community of all true believers for all time.” So, the term “church” is used to apply to all those (people) whom Christ died to redeem, all those (people) saved by the death of Christ, past, present, and future. It encompasses both the local church and the universal church (which is a topic we will address at a later time).

But note, there is no mention of a building, denomination, or tax-exempt entity.

In Scripture, the Greek word for “church” is ekklēsía and means “a called-out people, an assembly of those called by Christ into the fellowship of His salvation, a gathering or assembly of the redeemed.”

And once again, it has nothing to do with a building or a plot of real estate, a denomination or group of religious congregations, or a 501c3 organization. It is a specific, called, and redeemed group of, get this, people. Church is people.

In the New Testament, the word ekklēsía is used 118 times, and translates as “church” 115 of those times and “assembly” 3 other times. The Scriptures are very clear about how the “church” (assembly of redeemed people) are to worship the Lord when they come together collectively on the Lord’s Day. And it looks nothing like what we do today.

Ouch. So why the disconnect between the church we see in the book of Acts and what we observe every Sunday? Who dropped the ball or who changed the rules in the middle of the game?  I think you’ll be shocked when you find the answers to these questions.

Let me present just a few truths about church, both Biblically and how we understand them today. First, Christ is the one who grants membership into His church through salvation and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14). We don’t grant anything.

Holy Spirit = Salvation

No Holy Spirit = No Salvation

It is really just that simple.

And two, Christ is the One, the only One, who is charged with building His church (Matt. 16:18). Our job is to make disciples of those He redeems (Matt. 28:18-20). But sometimes we get the two mixed up. We think it’s our duty to build His church with our slick marketing schemes, flashing lights and smoke machines, mini-rock concerts passed off as worship, and sanitized TED Talks taking the place of sermons. But it’s not. Our job is to mature those He brings to Himself by helping them become more like Christ.

Finally, since Christ builds His church and not us, then He is the one who makes all the rules about how His church is to function, including worship, prayer, ministry, songs, and just about everything else you can think of. Remember, He is God and we are not.

Which raises an intriguing question:

Question: So, if Christ redeems His church and then commands us to meet together in community as the called-out ones to worship Him, does He give us any guidelines as to what that is supposed to look like?

Answer: Absolutely. But it looks very little like what we have been doing as believers since… forever. And much of that has to do with our reluctance to be His church rather than attend His church. One is active, the other passive.

But what happens when a group of believers understands their place in His grand plan and becomes the church as an active participant and not as a casual observer?  And what happens when these believers fully accept the truth of the priesthood of all believers? What would church look like then?

If you are intrigued or are not familiar with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, then join us as we unpack this glorious truth together.

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

554: Solomon’s Life: “Stupid Is as Stupid Does”

553: Don’t be Like King Solomon, Choose Wisely

552: The Importance of Finishing Life Well

551: Trying to Serve God Without Even Knowing Him

550: There is Nothing New Under the Sun… Really?

In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, once the wisest man who ever lived, tells us how he really feels about life. He says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). Or, all of life is meaningless, useless, pointless, of no real value, and a colossal waste of time. And so is everything a man does or builds while he lives his life on earth. Solomon continues, “What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” (Eccl. 2:3). Really? Sounds a bit selfish and narcissistic to me. How about you?

But it gets worse for Solomon by the time we get to chapter two.

In chapter two, Solomon tries to find his purpose, not in serving the Lord as he did when he was a young man, but in gratifying his flesh in every way imaginable, making all of life about him. And he knew his plan of trying to find the meaning of life in fleshly pleasure would lead to nothing, yet he continued anyway. Why? Maybe, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity (meaningless, pointless, futile, of no lasting value). I said of laughter—”Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” – Ecclesiastes 2:1-2.

But Solomon continued on this road to destruction anyway. Why? Especially when he was once the wisest man who ever lived. My, how the mighty have fallen.

Whatever (kōl) my eyes desired (strong desire, lust) I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any (kōl) pleasure (sensory, fleshly, the experience of pleasure), for my heart rejoiced in all my labor (trouble, toil, sorrow, painful work, the hardships of life); and this (the experience of sensory, fleshly pleasure) was my reward from all my labor (trouble, toil, sorrow, painful work, the hardships of life) – Ecclesiastes 2:10.

Solomon practiced zero self restraint. He had no discernment of good or evil desires. Solomon did not refuse himself anything. He embraced unhindered lusts. And what resulted from Solomon’s plunge into self-absorbed sin?

Then I looked (contemplated, considered) on all the works that my hands had done (what I had created, built, composed, produced, accomplished through effort) and on the labor (trouble, toil, sorrow, painful work, the hardships of life) in which I had toiled (to exert oneself, to work hard); and indeed all (work, toil, labor, pleasure, fulfilling lusts, etc.) was vanity (emptiness, meaningless, pointless, weariness, having no value or significance, futile, transitory, breath or vapor) and grasping for the wind. There was no profit (benefit, advantage, gain) under the sun (living life on the earth) – Ecclesiastes 2:11.

Uh, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

When you read the rest of this chapter, you will begin to experience the depth of Solomon’s despair. He is running, as fast and far as his legs will carry him, away from the God of his youth, towards something that crumbles over time. He is exchanging the glory of the Lord for a mirage, an image of happiness that is only a vapor. And Solomon knows this, yet he continues to run anyway.

Let’s see what we can learn from watching Solomon implode.

Note, it has been a long time since Solomon has had an intimate relationship with His Lord. He, like many of us, has tried to fill the void in his life with sensual pleasure, wealth, entertainment, and becoming a workaholic, hoping to once again feel what he did when God was close. So, it is not surprising he comes to a carnal, fleshly conclusion about the meaning of life and then tries to justify it by saying God ordained it for him.

Sin has an amazing ability to make armchair prophets and theologians of those who are trying to justify their carnality, just like Solomon. This is not the wisdom of God, but the wisdom of man. It is nothing more than justifying the lusts of the flesh.

And the lessons from Solomon’s life? Simply this: Don’t be like Solomon. Be like Christ. And leave, as fast as you can, the lukewarm spiritual life of Laodicea far behind.

553: Don’t be Like King Solomon, Choose Wisely

552: The Importance of Finishing Life Well

551: Trying to Serve God Without Even Knowing Him

550: There is Nothing New Under the Sun… Really?

549: The Problem is We Make Our God Too Small

In the Christian life, God makes it pretty simple for His children to follow Him by offering them only two choices, and two outcomes. These two choices, however, are portrayed in several different ways in Scripture. For example, there is the choice between light and darkness, life and death, good fruit or bad fruit, the wide road or the narrow path, walking by the Spirit or by the flesh, having faith or doubt, the blessings or curses, boldness or fear, embracing truth or deception, and many other mutually exclusive examples of God’s way or the ways of man.

But essentially, they all boil down to the choice of obedience or disobedience. And there is never a third option, no middle ground. You are either all in or all out. Right or wrong, with nothing in between. Yet we all must make a similar choice in our lives.

Solomon is a chilling example of someone who chose wisely in his youth and then made disastrous choices as he got older. He did not grow wiser with age. When he was young, Solomon chose the wisdom of God and His intimacy over wealth, popularity, and the fleeting pleasures of sin. But when he got older, he forgot God and followed his own heart and the wisdom of this fallen age and lost the most important things in his life… faith, purpose, and meaning.

So by the time we get to the second chapter of Ecclesiastes, we see Solomon frantically striving to find what he had forsaken, namely happiness, purpose, and meaning in his life outside of his broken relationship with the Lord, which he knew couldn’t be done. You cannot satisfy a spiritual longing by indulging the flesh. But, as a stubborn man like many of us, Solomon tried anyway, repeatedly. He gave it his best shot, and each time came up empty.

We can see the fallacy in his logic from the start. He knows what he is about to do will lead to nothing (vanity), yet he does it just the same.

And I (his action) set my heart (lēḇ) to know (yāḏaʿ) wisdom and to know (yāḏaʿ) madness (delusion, to try anything and everything just to know the outcome, being rash and foolish to an extreme degree) and folly (foolishness, a life devoid of wisdom, understanding, prudence, self restraint). I perceived (yāḏaʿ) that this also (among other things) is grasping for the wind – Ecclesiastes 1:17.

After determining the pursuit of wisdom was also meaningless and provided no lasting satisfaction, Solomon now goes in the opposite direction and embarks on a course of sensual pleasure to find happiness and contentment. It was as if Solomon put his hands over his ears and filled his life with such fleshly pleasure, hoping it could drown the inner cry of his soul. Guess how that journey turned out?

I said in my heart (lēḇ), “Come now, I will (my action) test (try, prove, to determine the true nature of something) you with mirth (the experience and manifestation of joy and gladness); therefore (conclusion) enjoy pleasure”; but surely (behold), this also was vanity (meaningless, having no value, futile, pointless, empty, like a vapor) – Ecclesiastes 2:1.

Uh, just a few questions, if I may. If it was vanity, why did you continue in it? Why not cut your losses and move on to something else? Why did you continue in something you knew wouldn’t work? Why did you not run back to your relationship with God and forget the meaningless lust of your flesh? Why did you have to learn the same lesson over and over again? That doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. Does it to you?

But this is only the beginning of Solomon’s woes. And I believe you will find, unfortunately, that you will relate to many of the ways Solomon tried to find satisfaction in life by gratifying the flesh, only to come up dry, empty, and depressed. I know I sure have. But his life can be a prime example of what not to do, or how to choose wisely (and not like Solomon).

So let me invite you to join us as we learn what to do, by not doing what the once wisest man who ever lived did. Let’s learn from his mistakes so we won’t have to make them ourselves, shall we?

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

552: The Importance of Finishing Life Well

551: Trying to Serve God Without Even Knowing Him

550: There is Nothing New Under the Sun… Really?

549: The Problem is We Make Our God Too Small

548: Keeping First Things First… Always

Solomon, it would seem, was in the middle of a spiritual mid-life crisis. When he was young, he ran after God with reckless abandon and God blessed him with wealth and wisdom beyond compare. And what did Solomon do with all God had given him? He took it for granted, made unbelievably bad decisions about the things God clearly talked about in Scripture, and followed his own heart and forsook the wisdom of God. He began to believe his own press releases and followed the ways of the world and not of God. He did not finish his race (life) well.

And we know how that turned out. Disaster, with a capital D.

So now he is older, set in his ways, and longing for the intimacy he once had with God, but refusing to repent and return to Him. He wanted the blessings on his terms, but not the obedience, which is always God’s terms. He longed for God’s hand of blessing, but not His face. Solomon was in an awful place spiritually, one of his own making.  And because he refused the cure for his spiritual illness, he sank into depression.

You can see the tragic fall of this great man in the opening chapters of Ecclesiastes. Solomon views all of life as meaningless, or “vanity” (Eccles. 1:2). He doesn’t see any value in anything he has done, or is doing (Eccles. 1:3).  And what he longed for the most in life, permanence, purpose, and meaning, seemed just out of reach. How sad.

What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? – Ecclesiastes 1:3.

It was like he was saying, “What is the purpose of life? Why am I doing what I am doing? Is this all there is? Does life have any meaning other than survival? Is there more to life than food, clothing, shelter, money and the stuff money can buy? And if so, what is it? Is the world better because I was born? Or am I just taking up space, meaning nothing? Is it true that everything is vanity, pure meaningless? Is all that I know and love and have experienced in this life really worth nothing? And if so (and I hope not), what does it profit me, or anyone for that matter, from all the weariness of life that we toil with while we are still alive?”

Can you feel his pain? I sure can. But he brought it all upon himself and he refuses to make it better.

Talk about stubbornness.

Solomon, at any time, could have confessed his sins to the Lord and experienced, once again, the wisdom of God that defined his life as a young man. He could have, like the Lord said to the church at Ephesus, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Rev. 2:5). Or, “Go back and do the things you did when life was good, when We spoke, and when others praised you for how you imitated Me.”

But of course, like many believers today, Solomon didn’t. His pride wouldn’t let him. The cost was too high. After all, he was now living independently of God and was proud of what he had accomplished, or so he kept telling himself. But truthfully, his life left him dry and unfulfilled, and he felt like he was just biding time and taking up space.

You can see all of this in the questions and reflections Solomon asks in the first chapter of this book. Some of what he says is quite telling of what kind of man he had become.

That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun – Ecclesiastes 1:9.

Geez, if I felt like that, I would have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. So Solomon decides to fill his life with everything his heart could ever want. He is trying to find happiness and contentment without God. Notice how that turns out. And notice how many times he talks about what he (“I”) have done.

I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom (human, not God’s) remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor – Ecclesiastes 2:4-10.

So what did you discover, Solomon? How did that work out for you?

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun – Ecclesiastes 2:11.

Do you want to end up like Solomon? I didn’t think so. So keep listening and let’s learn how to not be like Him.

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

551: Trying to Serve God Without Even Knowing Him

550: There is Nothing New Under the Sun… Really?

549: The Problem is We Make Our God Too Small

548: Keeping First Things First… Always

547: Regeneration – The Greatest Deception in the Church

Living the Chistian life is hard, even for the most committed. Why? Because it is a life of surrender, of giving all to Him and allowing Him to live His life through us. And when we attempt that, our flesh, our independence, screams in rebellion. There is no way to live the life of faith in the flesh. No way to manifest the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), without the Spirit. Or, when attacked unjustly, to turn the other cheek out of sheer determination and the force of your will (Matt. 5:39). It cannot be done, long term, no matter how hard you try.

After all, the Spirit and the flesh are at war with each other and only one can win (Gal. 5:16-17).

Josiah became king of Israel at the ridiculously young age of eight. He must have been taught properly, because by the time he was a young man, he took great, and unpopular strides to right the wrongs committed by previous kings and approved by the people.

For in the eighth year of his reign (when he was 16), while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year (when he was 20) he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.(2 Chr. 34:3-4).

Not bad for a man in his early twenties who had never read a single word of Scripture and did not know God personally. He was serving God the best he knew how, with no personal knowledge of the God whom he was serving. Much like many in the church today.

But then everything changed for Josiah. He read the Bible for the first time.

You know the rest of the story. Hilkiah the priest found the Word of God in the house of the Lord when they were doing repairs, probably the first five books of Moses. The Law. Boring stuff for much of the church today. But for Josiah, it was like discovering a great treasure.

Notice what this young king did when he discovered the part of Scripture we seldom even read.

Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD – 2 Chronicles 34:29-30.

Did you get that? He read “all” the words of the Book of the Covenant. And all means just that, all. Plus, Josiah saw Scripture as a covenant, a contract, between God and man. How many of us think that way today?

Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book – 2 Chronicles 34:3.

So Josiah made his own covenant to the Lord. And it was a covenant of faith, action, and obedience. But he wasn’t finished. He also made all those with him do the same. To “take a stand” to follow the Lord.

And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers – 2 Chronicles 34:32.

You can read the rest of the story in the verses that follow. But know this, once Josiah read the word of God, everything in his life changed. Is it that way with you? Do you view the print in your Bible as the words of God, a covenant He made with you that was ratified by the death of His Son? And if so, how are you doing keeping up your part of the covenant, the faith and obedience part that unlocks the promises of God?

And if you don’t view Scripture as the words of God, how do you hear from Him? What is the standard of truth in your life? It is you? Maybe what your friends think or what they say on TikTok?

Something to think about, would you agree?

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

550: There is Nothing New Under the Sun… Really?

549: The Problem is We Make Our God Too Small

548: Keeping First Things First… Always

547: Regeneration – The Greatest Deception in the Church

546: Spiritual Preparation for the Lord’s Supper, Revisited

The old adage goes something like this: “Everything the Bible speaks about is true. And the Bible speaks about everything.” This is also true, especially concerning some of the timeless questions we ask ourselves, such as “What is the purpose of life?” or “How can my life have meaning?” Both questions, and many more just like them, are specifically addressed in the Scriptures, especially in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes is a timeless book written by Solomon, the wisest (at least at one time) and richest man who ever lived. And Solomon wrote it towards the end of his life when he should have known better than to make the profound mistakes he did (remember 700 wives and 300 concubines, just for starters). It seems as if the wisdom and fervency for the Lord Solomon had as a young man slowly dissipated as he got older, which unfortunately happens to many people, and Solomon failed to finish his life well. Actually, it is kind of depressing. But there is so much for us to learn from watching Solomon’s sad decline.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon used the word “vanity” thirty-eight times and wrote about life “under the sun,” which means life on earth. It seems that was all he was concerned about in his later life. The desire for money and pleasure dominates the first few chapters of Ecclesiastes. Yet life on earth, void of a deep relationship with God, is not a wonderful thing. It is filled with pain and suffering, disease and death, and can bring out the worst in people. In fact, a Jewish writer once described life on earth as “a blister on top of a tumor, and a boil on top of that.”

Ouch.

Yet Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). I think Solomon may have missed that message.

So what was Solomon’s conclusion right out of the gate? It’s pretty depressing and self-centered.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher (Solomon); “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3).

Wow. Sounds like it’s all about Solomon and no one else. And selfishness always leads to unhappiness. But note what the Hebrew word translated “vanity” actually means: “emptiness, meaningless, pointless, in vain, breath because of its transitory, fleeting character, the quality of having no value or significance, the result of being futile, nothingness.” Solomon calls it “grasping for the wind.”

This is how Solomon was viewing his life as he moved closer to his day of final reckoning. Do you feel the same way?

G. Campbell Morgan puts Solomon’s life this way:

“This man (Solomon) had been living through all these experiences under the sun, concerned with nothing above the sun … until there came a moment in which he had seen the whole of life. And there was something over the sun. It is only as a man takes account of that which is over the sun as well as that which is under the sun that things under the sun are seen in their true light.”

Or, to put it another way, “Everything in life ‘under the sun,’ outside of Christ, means nothing. But what we do for Christ, ‘under the sun,’ means everything.” Keep listening to find out more.

549: The Problem is We Make Our God Too Small

548: Keeping First Things First… Always

547: Regeneration – The Greatest Deception in the Church

546: Spiritual Preparation for the Lord’s Supper, Revisited

545: You Do or Don’t Do, There is No Try

As we shared last time, the problem today in our culture is not the increasing darkness, but the ever-diminishing light that is found in believers. And this seems to be a problem that has stalked believers since the beginning of time, both in the Old and New Testament.

It’s not that our enemy is too big, but that our God is too small. And we make Him that way through our doubt, fear, insecurity, and lack of faith. So how can that change? Simple, we just have to see God for who He is and not who we think He is after we’ve stuffed Him in a box of our own understanding and left Him there. And we allow our lack of faith to do that all the time.

Today we are going to look at David in Psalm 18, just the first 3 verses, and see how David encouraged himself in the reality of who God is and not who our culture wants us to believe He is, which is impotent, distant, not caring, and apathetic to the cries of His children. And nothing could be further from the truth.

If you will note, Psalm 18 is also repeated in 2 Samuel 22, written at the close of David’s life, with just a few differences. So let’s look at the first three verses combined from Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel 22 in order to see exactly what David said. But first, notice how the Psalm begins.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD (not king of Israel), who spoke to the LORD the words of this song (when) on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

Now we’ll look at Psalm 18:1-3 and 2 Samuel 22:2-4 combined.

(PS) I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, (2 Sam) the God of my strength, (PS) in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (2 Sam) and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. (PS) I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.

But this is only reading these words on the surface. There is more to discover when we dig a little deeper.

Let’s see if we can understand what David is saying by looking into the specific words he used. Maybe there is some hidden revelation of God found in these Hebrew phrases.

O Lord (yehōwāh – the proper name of the God of Israel, particularly the name by which He revealed Himself to Moses. The “I AM THAT I AM,” the Ever Present One)

my strength (ḥēzeq – used only once in the Old Testament, means to fortify, be strong and courageous, to make firm and steadfast)

my rock (selaʿ – stronghold, cliff, stone)

my fortress (meṣûḏāh – a fortified defensive structure, a place of hiding in the wilderness)

and my deliverer (pālaṯ – one who delivers others from pain, suffering, hardship, death, to bring to safety, to help escape, to rescue, to save)

the God of my strength (ṣûrʿ – refers to a large rock, a boulder, cliff, or rock wall, a mountain),

in whom I will trust (ḥāsāh – to take / seek refuge, seeking the shade of a tree, to find a safe location);

my shield (māg̱ēn – a defensive piece of armor used to block blows or other forms of attack, means protection, or the scales of a crocodile)

and the horn (qarnayim – represents strength and power, like that of an animal)

of my salvation (yeša – the act of deliverance, to rescue from harm and deliver to safety, liberty),

my stronghold (miśgāḇ – a strongly fortified military structure, a place naturally fortified and secure, a high hill or cliff, rock, a high tower)

and my refuge (mānôs – place of escape, flight, a shelter from danger or hardship, a retreat);

my Savior (mô·šîaʿ – one who delivers and rescues from danger to a point of safety),

You save (yāšaʿ – to save or deliver from ruin, destruction, or harm) me from violence (ḥāmās – implies cruelty, damage, a wrong, and injustice).

I will call (q̣ārāʾ – summon, invite, declare, invoke) upon the Lord (yehōwāh – the proper name of the God of Israel, particularly the name by which He revealed Himself to Moses. The “I AM THAT I AM,” the Ever-Present One),

[who is worthy] to be praised (hālal – to be extolled of the greatness of His works, to commend, shine, shout, exclaim Hallelujah);

so shall I be saved (yāšaʿʾ – to save or deliver from ruin, destruction, or harm)

from my enemies (ʾōyēḇ – all kinds of enemies, personal, national, or an enemy of God, foe, adversary, to be hostile to).

Did you get that? And do you feel better? I sure do. But there is so much more to discover from these three small passages is Psalm. So keep listening as we learn to see God for who He is and not who we think He is.

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

548: Keeping First Things First… Always

547: Regeneration – The Greatest Deception in the Church

546: Spiritual Preparation for the Lord’s Supper, Revisited

545: You Do or Don’t Do, There is No Try

544: Desire Without Effort Equals Nothing

The problem today in our culture is not the increasing darkness, but the ever-diminishing light in believers. For darkness is defined as the absence of light. And when light appears, it immediately vanquishes darkness without a struggle. But there is more. Scripture tells us that Christ is light, and therefore, so are we. We are children of light and are commanded to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). And Scripture describes the enemy as darkness.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John (the Baptist). This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light (Christ), that all through him might believe. He was not that Light (Christ), but was sent to bear witness of that Light (Christ).

Summary: That was the true Light (Christ) which gives light to every man (was) coming into the world – John 1:6-9.

But it gets even better. Consider what John later says about light.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light (to what degree) and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him (light), and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if (condition) we walk in the light (to what degree) as He is in the light, (result) we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin – 1 John 1:6-7.

So it appears the problem today with encroaching darkness is us, those who are light, yet hide our light from the world (Matt. 5:14-16). Why do we do that? Maybe it’s because we fear the darkness. Or maybe we fear the persecution of the world, of being canceled, mocked, de-platformed, or whatever the darkness tries to do to conceal our light. But no matter. We have the mandate from our Lord to “let our light shine before men” (Matt. 5:16).

So maybe we should be about just that. Remember:

Fact: For you were once darkness, but now you are light (where) in the Lord.

Command: Walk as children of light – Ephesians 5:8.

Note: We are now (present tense) light in the Lord. We possess the Holy Spirit and take on the nature of Christ (Rom. 8:29), who is Light (1 John 1:5). And that makes us divinely powerful in Him.

So let’s get to it, shall we?

So how are we to be light in this dark world? And how do we fight against the darkness? Let me tell you how not to fight against the darkness. Not with anger, revenge, politics, or personal strength. None of the Rambo stuff. Nor by plotting, or scheming, or manipulating circumstances to meet our end. No, that’s what the darkness does. We let Him do the fighting for us and rest in His promises and commands.

In Him (Christ) was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (katalambánō – to take, apprehend, overcome, to seize the position of and defeat, to gain control) it – John 1:4-5.

Did you get that?

When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we allow Him to fight our battles for us (which was His whole plan in the first place). We find this command to surrender ourselves all throughout Scripture. Remember, He gets the glory when we allow Him to fight our battles for us, just like a loving Father. And He has promises for those who choose to trust Him, even in the thick of battle.

Remember the questions in Romans 8?

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” – Romans 8:33.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” – Romans 8:35.

And the one where our faith either grows or fails… “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors (how) through Him who loved us” – Romans 8:37.

And we pray and put on the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18). Not sure what that means or why we should do it? Then keep listening.

To download the slides for this message, click – HERE

547: Regeneration – The Greatest Deception in the Church

546: Spiritual Preparation for the Lord’s Supper, Revisited

545: You Do or Don’t Do, There is No Try

544: Desire Without Effort Equals Nothing

543: Remember the Warning – Conformity Kills