Obeying the Gospel

THE POWER OF PENTECOST (SEPTEMBER 7)

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"And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

IN THE FINAL DAYS OF HIS LIFE, JESUS PREPARED HIS APOSTLES FOR THE WORK THEY WOULD DO AFTER HE ASCENDED BACK TO HEAVEN. They would be eyewitnesses of His resurrection, and they would be the authoritative proclaimers of His gospel. But He told them not to leave Jerusalem “until you are clothed with power from on high.” This clothing with power began to take place on the Day of Pentecost just a few weeks after Jesus’ ascension. We have a record of it in Acts 2, and that record is crucial to our grasp of the gospel.

In Acts 2, we are told that the apostles began to speak of “the mighty works of God” (v.11). Miraculously, they did this in languages they had never learned, but the greater miracle, no less miraculously empowered, was the content of the proclamation: the saving message of Jesus Christ. The act of “speaking in tongues” facilitated the message that day, and it certainly underscored the authority of the apostles, but the emphasis in Acts 2 is on the content of the preaching. We would seriously fail in our appreciation of this text if we were so amazed by the signs and wonders that we didn’t pay attention to the message the signs were pointing to.

In his sermon, Peter alluded to God’s promise in Joel 2:28-32: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh . . . [and] everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The subject of the sermon was salvation, so we’re not surprised that the hearers cried out, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter’s reply was clear: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). In other words, as you call on the name of the Lord you will receive that which the Holy Spirit has made possible through the miraculously empowered preaching of the apostles: salvation from your sins. So the power that went forth from Jerusalem that day was not the miracles (those lasted only for a while), but the saving gospel of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 2:2,3).

"God hides nothing. His very work from the beginning is revelation — a casting aside of veil after veil, a showing unto men of truth after truth. On and on from fact divine he advances, until at length in his Son Jesus he unveils his very face" (George MacDonald).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

HUMAN PROGRESS IS PERILOUS (SEPTEMBER 6)

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"And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth'" (Genesis 11:2-4).

THE “TOWER OF BABEL” IS A FAMILIAR STORY, BUT ITS POINT IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD. The problem was not the height of the tower but the presumption of the builders. Refusing to acknowledge their need for God, they declared their independence and said, in effect, “We will do as we please; there is no problem we can’t overcome and no goal we can’t achieve on our own.”

Today, the effects of the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and Progressivism have combined to produce a presumption bolder by far than that of Babel. Our culture is built on the premise of human progress and perfectability. There is no inward unrest that can’t be calmed by mindfulness and meditation, and there are no outward problems that can’t be solved by science and technology. Even in the realm of spirituality, God is no longer essential. Our faults and foibles can be eliminated by looking deep within ourselves. Our authentic lives are waiting to be discovered by the wisdom and love that are already in our hearts.

Postmodernism (to its credit) rejected the unbridled optimism of modernism, but we are currently seeing a resurgence of interest in the Enlightenment. Bestselling books are once again praising the Enlightenment, arguing that human reason and science have given us a world that is very good — and getting awesomely better.

Yet despite the diminishing danger of war, hunger, and disease, the global incidence of suicide is increasing dramatically. Clearly, our “progress” has left many people deeply disturbed. Can it be that our profoundest problems have no human solution?

The truth is, we can’t help ourselves where we need help the most. Yes, we can “science” our way out of some of life’s lesser problems, but the potential of human self-help is limited. We do not have it within us to solve the problem of sin. We cannot get back to God on our own — and that is what the gospel of Christ is about.

"The cross has revealed to good men that their goodness has not been good enough" (Johann H. Schroeder).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

GOD'S WAY IS CONDUCIVE TO HUMILITY (SEPTEMBER 5)

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"By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks" (Hebrews 11:4).

WE DO NOT KNOW SPECIFICALLY WHY ABEL’S OFFERING WAS MORE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, BUT WE ARE TOLD THAT HE DID WHAT HE DID “BY FAITH.” Unlike his brother, he trusted God enough to do things God’s way — whatever that might have involved — rather than substitute his own preferences in the matter.

When we look over the entire history of God’s dealings with mankind recorded in the Scriptures, we see an interesting pattern. Whenever people have decided to follow their own inclinations, we see two differences between their way and God’s way.

(1) GOD’S WAY IS MORE SIMPLE. Human beings have a tendency to complicate things. Our projects are usually complicated at the start, and they grow even more complex as time goes along. In contrast, God’s way of doing things is more plain and unadorned — His plan is so simple that we often see it as “simplistic.”

(2) GOD’S WAY IS CONDUCIVE TO HUMILITY. Precisely because God’s way is more simple, it takes trust for us to believe it will work. To follow God’s instructions, we have to bow before His wisdom and rely on methods that seem insufficient, if not completely silly.

If somehow we were able to build the kingdom of God according to our own blueprint, the result would be pride — and rightly so, because the achievement would have resulted from our own wisdom. Until our house of cards came crashing down (Psalm 127:1), we possibly could have said, “Look at what we have accomplished.” But when we follow God’s plans there can never be any pride in it. His way goes against our ideas and opinions, and the honest person will always have to admit, “Well, I didn’t think such a plan would work, but I was wrong. Although I would have set things up differently, God’s way turned out to be the best.”

The wisdom of God is revealed to us today in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16,17). We should study the Scriptures with a reverent, childlike trust in our Father. Such a trust is not naive; it is based on His proven reliability. He is the God of ultimate truth and reality, and reality is a thing that requires humility on our part.

"Humility is nothing but truth, while pride is nothing but lying" (Vincent De Paul).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

CONFORMITY TO CHRIST: BOTH A FACT AND A PROCESS (SEPTEMBER 4)

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". . . seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Colossians 3:9,10).

FOR TODAY’S MEDITATION, CONTEMPLATE WITH ME THE CONCEPT OF “CHRISTLIKENESS.” Surely it is obvious that the Christian is to demonstrate a likeness to the character (or “mind”) of Christ. Having obeyed the gospel and entered the realm of God’s grace, we are to be people in whom the beauty of Christ can be seen.

But is Christlikeness an accomplished fact or is it a goal we’re to grow toward? It is both, and Paul makes this point in two passages that are strikingly similar. In Colossians 3:9,10, he puts conformity to Christ in the past tense. He says that we have “put off the old self . . . [and] put on the new.” But in Ephesians 4:22-24, he puts it in the form of a command: “put off your old self . . . [and] put on the new self.” These texts are not contradictory; each contains an important truth. What we are in Christ imparts a sense of rest — and what we must become gives us a sense of responsibility. So the gospel has two sides to it: the indicative and the imperative.

I suggest that both the indicative and the imperative parts of the gospel require a decision on our part; neither is automatic. It will not be true to say that we have put on Christ if we have not made a commitment to doing that. And we certainly will not grow in our conformity to His character if we don’t devote ourselves to that process. In both cases, we must exhibit the kind of decisiveness reflected in the song: “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.” To put it another way, we must choose to become the people that, in fact, we are in Christ.

Anyone who has been a Christian for very long will tell you that this is hard. There will never be a time in this life when the past does not try to pull us back — and sometimes the pull can be very strong. After all, we wouldn’t have been what we used to be if there weren’t some very pleasant (and easy) aspects of being that kind of person. But we can’t have it both ways. A choice has to be made.

Growth is one of the best things in life, but it is also one of the most challenging. To put it plainly: growth requires sacrifice. But the choice we make is worth every bit of what it costs us in this world.

"To be another than I am, I must abandon that I am" (John Chrysostom).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

SENSITIVITY TO SIN (SEPTEMBER 3)

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"They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity" (Ephesians 4:19 NLT).

IT IS NOT A GOOD THING IF OUR SINS DON’T BOTHER US. Just as you wouldn’t want to be unable to feel physical pain, you wouldn’t want to be insensitive to the pangs of conscience. The “warning system” provided by our conscience is one of the most valuable assets in our spiritual makeup. We should give thanks for it.

As important as it is, however, a sense of shame seems to be an endangered species of emotion in the culture that surrounds us. If we care about the world our children are going to have to live in, we can’t help but be concerned about current trends. But there is something else I want you to pay attention to: each of us needs to be more concerned about our lack of sensitivity to the sins that we know are in our own hearts. Whatever may be going on in the world around us, are we as sensitive to our own sins as we should be?

Oswald Chambers spoke perceptively when he said, “Measure your growth in grace by your sensitiveness to sin.” The more we learn to love our Father, the more our hearts are going to hurt when we realize we’ve failed Him. The person who rarely sees any sin in his own life — or seeing it, is not bothered by it — is not a spiritual senior but only a sophomore. As we gain wisdom, our conscience becomes more keen, rather than more comfortable.

And, of course, our increasing sensitivity to sin causes us to yearn all the more fervently for the perfection of our character in eternity. Thomas D. Bernard’s comment that our “sense of sin is in proportion to our nearness to God” sounds contradictory, but it’s not. The nearer we are to God, the more we see the gap between us and Him — and the more we long for that gap to be removed.

So where are you, my friend, in regard to this subject? If the painful awareness of sin seems to be growing rather than diminishing, does that mean you are becoming a more wicked person? Not knowing you, I can’t say for sure. But your pain may just mean that your conscience is becoming more healthy. And if that be the case, you are moving in God’s direction. Frankly, I’d be more worried about you if you thought you were doing just fine.

"It is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked; on the contrary, we are less so" (François Fénelon).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

NOMINAL CHRISTIANS (SEPTEMBER 2)

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"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent" (Revelation 2:4,5).

THE CHRISTIANS IN EPHESUS, TO WHOM THE ABOVE WORDS WERE WRITTEN, WERE IN A DANGEROUS POSITION. Having been faithful to Christ in the past, they no longer loved Him as they used to. And Christ was clear: if they did not repent and come back to Him in their hearts, He would sever His connection to them.

If Christ did end up removing their “lampstand,” the members of the church in Ephesus probably continued to call themselves Christians, at least for a while. They would have listed “Christian” as their religious affiliation, and might have thought of their salvation as being secured by their allegiance to “Christianity” rather than some other religion. But in reality, the word “Christian” would have been only a label and nothing more.

Today, when we speak of “nominal” Christians, that is what we mean: people who are Christians in “name only.” They self-identify as Christians, and may even attend a few church services now and then. When it comes to defending the “true faith,” they may be militant, but inwardly there is no substance to their faith. They are the modern embodiment of the mentality God spoke of in Isaiah’s day: “[They] draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).

Wherever Christianity becomes safe and socially acceptable, the number of name-only Christians will increase. They’re not truly religious, but Christianity will be their “religious preference.” And nothing could be more offensive to the Lord. To the Laodiceans, the Lord said, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

So in cultures where there are many nominal Christians, evangelism often amounts to converting the “Christians” to Christ. This is the hardest kind of evangelism by far. But think of the power that would be unleashed if even a few of those who have been wearing Christ’s name actually became His people!

"If we were willing to learn the meaning of real discipleship and actually to become disciples, the church in the West would be transformed and the resultant impact on society would be staggering" (David West).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE (SEPTEMBER 1)

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"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13,14).

HERE IS ONE OF JESUS’ MORE UNPOPULAR SAYINGS. Compared to the wide gate and the easy way, the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. Reconciliation to God, according to Jesus, requires a choice not many will be willing to make.

The ”natural” path is always easier than any other — and it never goes anywhere but downhill. By definition, “natural” means what will happen if no effort is exerted to alter the outcome — we call it “taking the course of least resistance.” Even in our daily lives, we are not usually happy with the degradation that takes place when we simply do nothing. But taking the natural path is even more disastrous in the spiritual realm. Some hard choices have to be made, and we are the ones who must make them.

God will help us, of course. Surrounding us with resources and circumstances that urge us in the right direction, God will open doors of opportunity for us. Without His help we could do nothing. In His love, He will even “discipline” (or “chasten”) us, as Hebrews 12:5-11 indicates. But having been disciplined by God, we will have to discipline ourselves. To be godly people, we will have to exert ourselves to go uphill rather than downhill — and the choice will usually involve more than doing what comes naturally.

Comparing our situation as Christians to that of the athlete, for whom self-discipline is obviously necessary, Paul said, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).

It does no good to deny this challenging aspect of godliness. If we take God seriously, we won’t seek to soften the force of texts like Matthew 7:13,14 with a quick “yes but.” The fact is, relatively few will be interested in the life that leads to heaven. But whatever others may do, each of us must make our own choice. What will we do?

"Sanctification means . . . a life of discipline such as nine out of ten of us will have nothing to do with" (Oswald Chambers).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

CHOICES THAT EXCLUDE EACH OTHER (AUGUST 31)

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"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24).

WHEN WE’RE MAKING UP OUR MINDS ABOUT A TOUGH CHOICE, THERE MIGHT BE MANY REASONS WHY WE DELAY THE DECISION. Perhaps we’re still unsure which fork in the road to take. Or maybe we’re mustering the courage the decision is going to require.

At other times, however, we have a different problem: after we’ve made the decision, we try to hold on to the circumstances we would have had if we had chosen the other option. As the saying goes, we try to have our cake and eat it too.

In the gospel, Jesus asks us to make life’s ultimate choice. Whether or not to follow Him is the most radical decision that will ever confront us — it requires making Him the Lord of everything about us, even our innermost thoughts and motives. To say the least, such a decision requires the sacrifice of every previous allegiance we’ve ever had. Whatever has been our ultimate priority up to now, that priority must be subordinated to the will of our new Master: we promise to follow the path that leads us to Him in eternity, forsaking every other path and every other preference.

However, the time comes when we look back longingly at our past priorities — and perhaps we return to them. Without openly rejecting the Lord, we simply start following our own will in the so-called “secular” parts of life, thinking that maybe our way and Jesus’ way are not so incompatible after all. He will still be our primary Lord, we tell ourselves; we will make sure we keep the other things from getting out of hand. But we are deceiving ourselves, as anybody can see who really knows us (including our children). We have let something else sneak back onto the throne of our hearts.

On this point, Jesus cut to the heart of the matter: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” It is impossible to maintain two ultimate priorities. Ultimate priorities, by definition, are mutually exclusive. They cannot coexist peacefully.

So “no one can serve two masters” is a challenging saying, all the more so for those of us today who believe we can “have it all.”

"The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master" (P. T. Forsyth).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

WHAT THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST MEANS (AUGUST 30)

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"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

IF WE THINK THAT OBEDIENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR CITIZENSHIP IN GOD’S KINGDOM, WE ARE MISTAKEN. For Jesus Christ to be our Savior, He must be our Lord. And the lordship of Christ involves more than just saying He is our Lord. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

The first hearers of the gospel two thousand years ago would have been more familiar with the word “lord” than we are. It simply meant “one who is in authority.” But used in reference to Jesus Christ it had a special meaning. In Matthew 28:18-20, He claimed that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. He was the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

Remember that we have defined the problem of sin as the problem of rebellion against God. If that’s what our trouble is, it makes obvious sense that for our sins to be forgiven we are going to have to lay down our rebellion, come back to the rightful King, and once again submit ourselves to His rule. Wonder of all wonders, He is willing to forgive us of our treason, but His grace requires that we begin doing what we have not been doing: obey His will. He must be our Master, our Ruler . . . our Lord.

But how do we know if Jesus is our Lord? We know by taking a look at whether we’re actually obeying Him or not. Whatever we may say, He is not our Lord if we are not obeying Him.

Perhaps we could not do better than to end these thoughts with Jesus’ vivid conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).

"What gets me into the kingdom, from Christ's own statement, is not saying, 'Lord, Lord,' but acting 'Lord, Lord'" (Jim Elliot).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

SEEKING THE KINGDOM OF GOD FIRST (AUGUST 29)

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"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

A FIRM DECISION MUST BE MADE TO “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” Very few people are willing to do this, even among those who profess allegiance to Christ. “Everyone wants the kingdom of God, but few want it first. Everyone wants high achievement, but few want to pay the price. Everyone wants God, but few want to put him first” (Charles L. Venable). Especially in the modern culture of so-called “Christian nations,” very few do anything more than add a little “Christianity” to their busy lifestyles.

But Jesus was clear: we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). He said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23). When it comes to our discipleship, a radical choice has to be made. Will Jesus get all of my heart or will He get nothing? There is no middle ground.

But did you notice the last part of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 6:33? If we put the kingdom first, “all these things will be added to you.” Whatever other needs we have, these will be supplied — but we have to be willing to do without them, if need be, in order to maintain the priority of the kingdom. And, of course, the very worst thing we could do is to serve God for selfish or utilitarian reasons: looking at religion simply as the best way to get “all these things.”

Whether to put God’s kingdom first in our hearts is a hard decision, hard because of the sacrifice required and also the carefulness demanded by the decision. Consequently, we often dither about it and procrastinate. (I love the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of “dither”: “to be nervously irresolute in acting or doing.”)

We need to hear Joshua’s challenge: “If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). Or Elijah’s exhortation: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). Or Moses’ plea: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). In this life, it pays to be careful what we grasp and what we give up.

"If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead" (William Law).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com