Obeying the Gospel

THAT WHERE I AM YOU MAY BE ALSO (JUNE 19)

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"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:1-3).

IT IS EXTREMELY ENCOURAGING FOR US TO READ OF THE DEPTH OF JESUS’ CONCERN FOR HIS DISCIPLES. As He came down to the bitter end of His life, even on the night before He knew He would be crucified the next day, His concern was for them — to comfort them, reassure them, and establish hope in their hearts. In the Gospel of John, we hear Him saying, “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). And, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (16:33).

So in our text in John 14:1, we find the familiar words, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” But what idea did He want them to be encouraged by? He wanted them to keep in mind that, although He would be leaving, He would come back and take them to His eternal abode. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (v.3).

This is the hope that lies at the heart of the gospel of Christ. Having responded obediently to the gospel and been reconciled to God, we can anticipate the time when our Lord will return for us. And when He does, He will take us to be with Him forevermore.

Whatever imagery may be used to portray eternity with God, this should be the aspect of it that moves us most deeply: we will be with God. Having lived all our lives in this broken world, frustrated by our inability to have direct, face-to-face access to our Father, imagine what it will be like to actually be with Him!

To be with God where He is, of course, will require the removal of the imperfections that remain within us at present: the sinful attitudes, ungodly habits, and broken relationships. We will need to be, as one of my favorite songs says, “mended and whole.” But therein will lie the joy of heaven. Our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father, will have been perfected — and sin will no longer interfere with the exchange of love between us and Him!

"Where imperfection ceaseth, heaven begins" (Philip James Bailey).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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A POWERFUL CLUE TO GOD'S NATURE (JUNE 18)

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". . . as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man" (Acts 17:28,29).

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN IS FULL OF WONDERS. It is, as Tolkien said, “full of strange creatures beyond count.” But surely, the strangest of these by far is the human race. Human beings are so different from any of the other creatures, the more we learn about our human qualities, the more we see just how wide the gap is. (If you want to read a book that will make you think, get a copy of Mortimer J. Adler’s The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes.)

In Acts 17:28,29, Paul pointed out that the personal nature we know we possess is a clue to the nature of God. The Greek poets had acknowledged that we are the “offspring” of God. If that’s true, Paul argued, how can we think God is any less personal than we are? He was right. If we have personal minds, those minds can’t be explained by impersonal forces. Even if our physical brains could have evolved, what scientists call the “mind” is a phenomenon the brain simply cannot produce by itself.

Today, neuroscience believes it is making progress in explaining human consciousness in completely naturalistic, biological terms. We are told that it’s only a matter of time before science discovers how the physical brain produces the “mind.” But honestly, the campaign promises of that bold project will be hard to fulfill.

Human “personhood” is very familiar to us (it may be hard to define, but we know it when we see it), and it can’t be explained from below itself — its origin can only be from above itself. The non-personal could never have produced the personal, no matter how many trillions of years it had to work with. And our physical brains can never be, all by themselves, the generative source of our rational thought and free will. In our heart of hearts, we know this. We know that what we are can only be explained by the creative act of a Personal Being who had the power to make us in His image.

"I can't understand man, Agnos, without invoking the transcendent, the supernatural, the immaterial . . . Augustine once confessed, 'The manner in which the spirit is united to the body cannot be understood by man, but it is the essence of man.' Even with theism man remains a puzzle, but to me the puzzle is augmented geometrically if theism is false" (Arlie J. Hoover).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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LETTING THE SCRIPTURES DECIDE (JUNE 17)

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"And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures" (Acts 17:2).

IN THE TEXT ABOVE, NOTICE THE STANDARD OF AUTHORITY TO WHICH PAUL APPEALED. With the task of convincing a Jewish audience that Jesus’ claims were true, he “reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” If Jesus was the promised Messiah, everything about Him would match up with the portrait of the Messiah in the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures. And if the case for Jesus could not be made from the Scriptures, it would be reasonable for Paul’s Jewish hearers, and everyone else, to reject the gospel.

The Scriptures are our only worthy standard. Having originated in the mind of God (John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21), the Scriptures are able to make us “wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). To say that they are dependable is a considerable understatement. Jesus went so far as to say, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). So these writings are no ordinary documents. To disregard the authority with which God speaks to us in the Scriptures is to do a very foolish thing. In all the great issues of life, it is the standard of the Scriptures that must govern us.

When we are considering controversial matters, it is hard to keep our feelings from influencing our decisions. When I served on the jury for a very sensitive child molestation trial many years ago, I well remember the judge’s instructions to the jury: “Your decision should be based solely on the evidence, not on your feelings, preferences, or personal opinions.” She was right. And when it comes to questions about our relationship to God, it is even more important to have an objective standard by which to measure.

At this point in history, however, few people believe there is any objective standard by which we can navigate. Most people assume that personal feelings and experience are the “voice of God” within them. But God has not left us to the chaos of such subjective uncertainty, and His servant David was on the right track long ago. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).

"We must guard against grounding our spiritual commitment on the quicksands of fluctuating experiences. Experience . . . must be constantly tested and verified by the objective truths of the Word of God" (Erwin W. Lutzer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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DIFFERENT SOILS, DIFFERENT HEARERS (JUNE 16)

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"Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them" (Matthew 13:5-7).

IN THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER, JESUS MADE THE POINT THAT THOSE WHO HEAR THE GOSPEL DON’T ALL HAVE THE SAME KIND OF HEART. He used the analogy of four different kinds of soil — just as the seed sown by a farmer doesn’t always fall on productive soil, the gospel doesn’t always fall into receptive hearts.

(1) ALONG THE PATH (VV.4,19). Some seed is picked up by the birds and never germinates at all. This is the person whose lack of interest in understanding the truth gives it no chance to affect him.

(2) ROCKY GROUND (VV.5,6,20,21). Some seed falls into soil that is shallow, resulting in short-rooted plants that die when the sun gets hot. This is the person who is not a commitment keeper, so when it comes to the gospel, he can’t be counted on to remain steadfast. Hardship causes him to change his mind about the Lord.

(3) AMONG THE THORNS (VV.7,22). Some seed sprouts but the plants are choked by thorns. “The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (v.22).

(4) GOOD SOIL (VV.8,23). Other seed, however, falls into fertile ground. It germinates, grows, and produces a crop. In Luke’s account, Jesus said this soil is like those who “hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). This kind of hearer is obviously the one Jesus sought, and He often found such hearers in unlikely places.

But how often do we, when we think of the Parable of the Sower, raise the question of our own receptivity to God’s word? It may be that for all our talk about the need for honesty and courage, we ourselves do not bow before the truth as receptively as we should. To be frank, it is a rare human being who is willing to follow the truth wherever it goes (and sadly, we preachers are often the least willing). Today, as we contemplate obeying the gospel, let’s challenge ourselves. God does not decide what kind of heart we have; we decide. So let’s make the decision a good one.

"A sound head, an honest heart, and an humble spirit are the three best guides through time and to eternity" (Sir Walter Scott).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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AN INSURMOUNTABLE OBJECTION (JUNE 15)

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"Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, 'We will hear you again about this'" (Acts 17:32).

THERE IS NO PROPOSITION SO COMPELLING THAT EVERYONE ACCEPTS IT. No matter what is affirmed, some objection or other is always possible. So with any idea, the question is not whether anyone can come up with objections but whether those objections are valid. Taking an opinion poll won’t help us much either. Regardless of which way the opinions of the majority may be running, the only question worth asking is always: is this idea true?

In Acts 17, when Paul was asked to speak to a group of philosophers in Athens about Jesus Christ, he first talked about the nature of God. But as his argument progressed, he came to Jesus’ resurrection. At this point, “some mocked,” while others said, “We will hear you again about this.” They all heard the same words — but the response of the audience was a split decision. In the end, the gospel was not received as obediently in Athens as it was elsewhere, and perhaps that is not surprising. But Paul’s preaching was acted on affirmatively by some who heard it: “some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them” (v.34).

Today, we could make a long list of objections that people offer to the resurrection of Christ. Some of these are based on misunderstandings which can be cleared up, while others come from a lack of acquaintance with the evidence. But there is one objection that can’t be overcome by supplying additional evidence: the belief that the resurrection cannot have taken place. If a person approaches the question maintaining that such a thing is inherently impossible, he will not believe it no matter how much evidence there is.

So when it comes to miracles, and especially the resurrection, our presuppositions are crucial. In an age of astonishing discoveries, haven’t we learned to use the word “impossible” very sparingly? It is a strange world, is it not? Let us, then, be open-minded enough to admit the possibility that the resurrection could have happened — and then have the courage to assess the historical evidence fairly.

"If anything extraordinary seems to have happened, we can always say that we have been the victims of an illusion. If we hold a philosophy which excludes the supernatural, this is what we always shall say" (C. S. Lewis).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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ASSURANCE THAT JESUS WILL BE OUR JUDGE (JUNE 14)

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". . . because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

CONCERNING GOD, THE IDEAS OF “ACCOUNTABILITY” AND “JUDGMENT” ARE NOT CONGENIAL TO THE MODERN MIND. Those who believe there is a God do not usually think in terms of being judged by Him, such that their eternal destiny will be dependent on that judgment. Yet God’s judgment is one of the things affirmed about Him in the Scriptures. Consider the text in Acts 17:16-34.

In this passage, there is the account of Paul’s presentation of the gospel of Christ in Athens. Invited to speak to a group of philosophical inquirers, Paul talked first about the nature of God as a personal Creator, and then he spoke of God’s judgment.

A time has been appointed, Paul said in v.31, when the world will be judged by God. And this will be done “in righteousness,” which is to say, God’s verdict will be exactly the right verdict in every case, rendered in perfect justice. What is more, Paul said that God has entrusted this judgment into the hands of “a man whom he has appointed.” This is Jesus Christ, and “of this [God] has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The resurrection established the truth of many things, not the least of which is Jesus’ deity: His identity as the Son of God. But Paul shows that Christ’s resurrection also verified His role as the One before whom we must stand in judgment. If someone wanted proof that judgment is coming — and that Jesus will be the Judge — no greater proof would be possible than His resurrection.

This, then, is one of the Messiah’s roles. In addition to being our High Priest and King, He is our Judge. “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:26,27). For those who have accepted the gospel faithfully, the coming judgment holds no fear, only love. But one way or the other, judgment is coming. Of that we may be sure.

"Paul does not refer directly to the human figure -- the 'one like a son of man' -- of Daniel 7:13; but this is "the man" whom he has in mind, the one in whom God’s eternal purpose finds its fulfillment, the one to whom the Father has given 'authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man' (John 5:27)" (F. F. Bruce).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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DOES JESUS' RESURRECTION REALLY MATTER? (JUNE 13)

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"And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised" (1 Corinthians 15:14,15).

THERE IS A VERSION OF “CHRISTIANITY” IN WHICH ALL OF THE MIRACLES ARE ELIMINATED FROM THE SCRIPTURES. Many people today take it for granted, based on their philosophy and worldview, that such a thing as a miracle is simply impossible, so the scriptural accounts of Jesus’ miracles are assumed to be fictitious.

In particular, the resurrection of Jesus is held to be a legend — an idea created by later Christians and injected into the accounts of Jesus’ life and death. Many ministers who occupy pulpits on Sunday morning may preach on the resurrection, but if you ask them privately, they will tell you they don’t believe it literally took place.

But what do we have left if we leave the resurrection out of the gospel of Christ? Not much. We may have a positive-mental-attitude system of emotional uplift and benevolent motivation, but we do not have the Christian message of salvation, for originally that gospel promised the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Paul spoke with remarkable candor when he wrote to the church in Corinth that if Christ was not raised from the dead, “our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We [the apostles] are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ.” Some seem to think that it is only in modern times that people began doubting the resurrection, but as Paul indicates, many people doubted it from the start. And he is very clear as to the choice we must make: either we accept that the resurrection occurred and obey the gospel that is based upon it — or we deny the resurrection and dispense with the gospel as nothing more than a myth whose believers are “most to be pitied” (v.19).

Like it or not, sin is real and we are lost. But no alternative to Christ is available for our forgiveness. “If Christ has not been raised . . . you are still in your sins” (v.17). To be sure, wishful thinking must not make our decision. If the gospel is false, we must face the facts. But let’s not water down what’s at stake here: hope vs. no hope.

"The resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of apostolic preaching and upon it rests the truth of the gospel" (Paul Earnhart).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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THE APOSTLES: DOUBTERS WHO BECAME EVANGELISTS (JUNE 12)

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". . . who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:3,4).

PHYSICALLY, JESUS WAS A DESCENDANT OF DAVID. But that does not tell the whole story about Him. He was also, as Paul said, “declared to be the Son of God . . . by his resurrection from the dead.” Even if a person had not been convinced by the other miracles Jesus performed (John 20:30,31), His resurrection could not be explained in any other way. If that took place, He was indeed the Son of God — and His gospel is to be believed and acted upon.

Jesus’ own disciples, especially the twelve apostles, are an interesting case. They had seen all of the miracles, and they had heard all of Jesus’ preaching. On some level, they had become believers (Matthew 16:13-16). But when Jesus was crucified, their hopes were dashed: He was dead, so how could He be the Messiah? But when they saw Him with their own eyes after His resurrection, they understood what the resurrection meant.

Thomas (who has often been called “Doubting Thomas”) was perhaps the hardest to convince. Not present when the Lord first appeared to the apostles after His resurrection, Thomas declared that he would need to see Jesus for himself. But later, when Jesus appeared and Thomas was present, Thomas drew exactly the right conclusion: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

If the resurrection took place, there is simply no other conclusion we can reach. And we can’t argue that the stories of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances were made up and later added to the records of His life. There simply wasn’t enough time for this myth-making process to occur. The New Testament documents began to be written within 20-30 years after the resurrection. Those who wrote them knew beyond a doubt whether the resurrection had taken place — and rather than deny an event which they knew had actually come to pass, they were willing to die for their testimony. Having been doubters, they became evangelists. And it was the resurrection that turned them around.

"The fact that Jesus did arise from the dead was the only thing that brought absolute conviction to the hearts of even his disciples that he was the Son of God. His resurrection from the dead left in their minds no trace of doubt" (Robertson L. Whiteside).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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NORMATIVE NATURE OF THE APOSTLES' TEACHING (JUNE 11)

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"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you -- unless you believed in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:1,2).

WHEN WE ARE ADRIFT, WE NEED AN ANCHOR. But when it comes to the gospel of Christ, it is extremely important what anchor we choose to employ. Changing the metaphor, we might say that our standard of measurement is important. If we need to know whether a particular belief or practice is valid, we won’t get a helpful answer if we measure by the wrong yardstick.

For Christians, the Scriptures are the definitive standard by which beliefs and practices are to be judged. Starting with Genesis and culminating in the writings of the apostles of Christ, these documents are normative. That is, they define what is and what is not  an authentic part of the “Way” (Matthew 7:13,14; John 14:6; Acts 24:14). The Bible is, in effect, the “constitution” of Christianity.

In the late first century, several decades after the beginning of the gospel, many began to abandon the teaching of the apostles and promote progressive views of discipleship. Against this departure, the apostle John wrote a heartfelt plea to his brethren urging them to ground themselves in what they had been taught by the apostles (1 John 1:1-4; 2:24; 4:1,6). If they left this teaching, they would have departed from Christ (1 John 2:18,19; 2 John 9-11).

The crisis in John’s day was the beginning of a trend that continues today. At present, it is fashionable to say that there is no norm — Christianity is whatever we wish it to be. If there is any standard, it is our own subjective feelings. As for the Bible, it is viewed as a “living” book whose meaning changes over time.

Yet this goes against the way the apostles themselves viewed the gospel. There was, for example, no hope that the problems in Corinth would be solved if the Corinthians didn’t remember what Paul had taught them as an apostle. “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached.” And what if they did not hold fast? Paul left no doubt that they would have “believed in vain.”

"A Christian cannot live by philosophy. Only the light of Christian revelation gives the end as well as the means of life" (John Jay Chapman).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE APOSTLES (JUNE 10)

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"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

IN GOD’S PLAN TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS, THE APOSTLES HAD AN IMPORTANCE THAT NEEDS TO BE UNDERSTOOD. The entire message of the gospel depended on the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:13-17), and the apostles served, first and foremost, as eyewitnesses of that event. Each of them had seen Jesus after He had been raised (Acts 1:21,22). And while the apostles were not the only eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), their testimony was invested with nothing less than the authority of Christ Himself (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). In addition, the apostles could perform miracles that guaranteed the truthfulness of their account (Hebrews 2:3,4). So the apostles were not just disciples or followers of Christ; they were the definitive, authoritative emissaries of Christ. They could regulate the practice of the church in its foundational period. And what we have today in the New Testament is the written record of their definitive teachings. These documents provide the permanent, unchangeable “constitution” of the Lord’s church.

In the first century, of course, many people claimed to be apostles who were not. So to separate the false apostles from those actually appointed by Christ, the true apostles were able to miraculously confirm their authority. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (some of whom were questioning his apostleship), “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works” (2 Corinthians 12:12).

Jesus said that after His resurrection the Holy Spirit would finish revealing to the apostles the things He had only just begun to teach them (John 14:25,26; 16:12-15). So to get all of Jesus’ teaching, we have to study not only what He personally taught, but also what was revealed to His apostles. Taken together, this body of teaching is definitive. It is authoritative and foundational. So we must not say, as many do, that we should ignore the apostles and only study the teachings of Jesus. The truth is, we can’t have Jesus without the apostles. They were His designated, not-to-be-ignored spokesmen.

"Jesus chose the twelve apostles for a unique, unrepeatable role in the history of redemption" (John Piper).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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