Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

It is in our nature to want things to be easy always—for life to be sunny with no storms. Sounds good, right? However, do you know what you call a place that’s sunny all the time and never rains? A desert!

Sometimes God purposes to bring us through the desert, a wilderness—a difficult and dry place. But He means well for us—to drive us to hope in Him and to prepare us for His unimaginable blessings. 

I take great comfort in Deuteronomy 8 where God says He “deals with us as with sons”. He calls this manner of relating to us “discipline”, a word that doesn’t translate well into our contemporary understanding. “Discipline” sounds punitive, as if God is angry and disappointed. But at its root is the word, “disciple”. The Lord is “discipling” us—He is training us—because He loves us as His own dear children. No good parent fails to disciple, to train, their children for the full responsibility and blessing of adulthood. This requires going through circumstances of both delight and difficulty. 

And in this God's heart is tender toward us and our weaknesses; He only means to strengthen our resolve to seek Him first—so we are not foolish children pursuing the wrong things. His goal is to train us—to prepare us to handle the overflowing bounty of all He intends to share with us, not only in this life, but more so in the one to come.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”

~Deuteronomy 8:1-10 (NASB95)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Times can get really bad. I mean really bad! Even in the company of God’s people.

During the 7th century B.C., a young king arose in Judah. This was the famous King Josiah, the 16th king of the southern kingdom. During his reign (c. 640-609) he oversaw a movement of reformation and revival centered in the Word of God. What prompted this—and what makes me look to this story to see how bad things can get—was the rediscovery of the Word of God. Things had dipped so low among God’s people that they had forgotten that God had ever given them a book of law. When Josiah sends a messenger to the temple, he ran into Hilkiah the high priest who had just made a discovery: “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to the king’s messenger, and he read it. Then, the messenger brought it back to Josiah and read it before him, as well.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

~2 Kings 22:11-13 (ESV)

Now, how bad can things get? By the time of Josiah, not only had God’s people ceased to obey the Bible, they even forgot they had one! Sadly, by the look of many American churches you’d wonder whether God had ever given us His Word in Christ. Without God’s Word, God’s people lose their reason for being and subject themselves to His judgment.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.”

~2 Kings 22:3-20 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We live in a day that is cynical about leaders and institutions. This is true in government, education, business, health care and the arts—but maybe especially in the church. Sadly, in some instances this cynicism is warranted due to abuses of power and position. However, the existence of such counterfeits doesn’t invalidate the legitimacy of the real thing. A counterfeit $20 dollar bill does nothing to invalidate the legitimacy of a real $20 dollar bill.

Therefore, certainly, it is necessary to be shrewd in one’s engagement with any given church. We must be discerning, seeking a congregation preaching the historic gospel and operating according to the manner of Jesus Christ. A church that’s not addicted to the latest and greatest, but a church rooted in and faithful to the doctrine and practice of the apostolic church. We should be wary of leaders marked by power trips but seeking and commending leaders marked by the patient service and care of God’s people (Mark 10:43-45; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Now, once we find such a church, we need to link ourselves to the communion and discipline of that local body. Admittedly, this can be difficult for many of us who have been burned by bad churches and bad shepherds. However, it doesn’t relieve us from the responsibility of seeking to do so. Rather, we must trust God and carefully take it one step at a time. Although God’s church is not perfect, it is being perfected, and we along with it.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

~1 Peter 5:1-7 (ESV)

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

~Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The early church was distinctive for many reasons, but one of the most powerful was the quality of loving community found among in it.

Tertullian, the 3rd century church leader, wrote a number of works defending the gospel in the face of persecution (see, To the Gentiles and Apology). In one of his more famous statements, he directs his pagan detractors to look at the quality of love among Christians, as compared to its lack among the pagans. He writes:

“Look . . . how they love one another (for they themselves [pagans] hate one another); and how they are ready to die for each other (for they themselves [pagans] are readier to kill each other).”

Tertullian knew that the love of Christians for one another was incredibly powerful and persuasive. Not surprising, since this is exactly what Jesus taught.

In His famous prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus not once but twice says that it is this unifying love among Christians, in spite of their many differences, that shows to the world the truthfulness of the gospel. Jesus prays:

…that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. [And again a few verses later, Jesus prays…] The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. (John 17:21-23 NASB, emphasis added)

The quality of our relationships as followers of Jesus Christ is our strongest and clearest witness. Twentieth century thinker Francis Schaeffer called this love, “the final apologetic”—that is, the final proof of the veracity of the gospel.

The kindness, mercy and grace of genuine love may be in short supply in the world, but it must not be in the church.

Is your life dripping with love toward your fellow Christians?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

~ John 17:17-26 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Sometimes we can struggle to have patience with the weakness we see in others. This impatience speaks not to our superiority but to our sin. God is patient with the weak.

Worse, sometimes we can struggle to have patience with weakness in ourselves. We are disappointed with the weakness of our own faith. Again, this speaks more to our sin than it does to our faith. In our sinful pride, we judge and condemn ourselves.

The good news is that God’s grace is no match for our sinful pride. God can more readily save the sinner than the one who thinks he is righteous; he can more readily save the weak than the one who thinks himself strong. The weak reach out their hand for help. That is the hand of faith. The one who thinks he is strong never reaches out his hand for divine help. His hand is too strong to need God’s grace. He has no faith because he’s convinced he needs no grace.

The great Puritan preacher Thomas Watson put it this way:
“The weakest believer is a member of Christ as well as the strongest; and the weakest member of the body [of Christ] shall not perish. Christ will cut off rotten members, but not weak members. Therefore, Christian, be not discouraged. God, who would have us receive them that are weak in faith, will not himself refuse [us]. Rom 14: 1.”
~Thomas Watson (1620-1686), Cambridge (Emmanuel College) graduate and Puritan pastor in his work The Ten Commandments

My friend, God is tender and gentle with the weakness of your faith. It is not the strength of your faith that saves you but the strength of Christ. Your faith may be small. Your Savior is big.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions…. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand…

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother…. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
~ Romans 14:1,4,10-13,19 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome the Kingdom Perspective.

Sometimes, you see things better as an outsider than an insider. For example, when you first move to a new community, certain cultural distinctions about that community stand out.

One of the things that struck me when I first moved to the Dartmouth College area was how hesitant, even insecure, many parents were to exercise authority, even over their own children. These were otherwise intelligent, well-educated people. Why did they not see the wisdom and necessity of parental authority? Well, the assumption seemed to be that exercising authority might somehow squelch their child’s individuality. Saying “no” ran the risk of damaging the child’s little ego, and so not allowing them to develop into their “true self”.

Now, certainly, there is such a thing as misapplication of authority, but it doesn’t come merely in the form of abusing your authority; it can also come in the form of abandoning it. Just as children need physical boundaries (the walls and roof of a house, the fence around the yard or playground), they also need emotional and social boundaries to protect their inner develop. Just as a vine needs a trellis to direct its growth, so also, children need parental authority and structure. Letting your kids do or believe whatever condemns them to wander and flounder, never reaching their full potential.

Years ago, I asked a longtime and celebrated Hanover High School teacher what kids today need the most. The response was quick and unequivocal: “Kids today don’t need more friends. They don’t need more therapists. Kids today need parents to be parents.”

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. ‘Honor your father and mother.’ This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, ‘things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.’

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

~ Ephesians 6:1-4 (NLT)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We tend to be fearful of difficult circumstances. Often, underneath this fear is not merely a revulsion to hard things, but a faulty belief system that equates suffering and pain with God’s lack of care and concern. But such thinking is categorically false.

Trouble is no sign that God doesn’t love me. The Bible teaches the exact opposite. “Those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines” (Hebrews 12). God “trains” and “disciples” (note the root connection with “discipline”) the children He loves.

Trials are not contrary to God’s love but are how He works that love in us.

What is the goal of life? What is God intending to produce in me? Through all our trials, God’s goal is that we might share in His character, and so be filled with His joy. We are to become like Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

Thus, we are not saved from trouble; we’re saved through it. We are not saved from suffering; we are saved through suffering. The cross of Christ teaches us this; it was through His suffering, He saved us.

Now, Jesus calls us on the same path of suffering He Himself has overcame. Jesus put it this way, “Here on earth, you will have trials and troubles. But take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

You see, our fear makes us run from suffering. Looking at Jesus drives us to embrace it.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

~1 Peter 1:6-9 (NASB)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Remember that great line from that classic 1980’s film “The Princess Bride”? “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

Now, we can be assured that the Bible is not trying to sell us something. It is “straight up”. It tells us that fear, pain and suffering are real. Trouble and danger are unavoidable.

In Romans, the Apostle Paul reminds us that it is only through suffering that we are able to share in Christ’s glory (Romans 8:17). The cross precedes the crown. The path to the throne is through the thorns.

The Bible fully acknowledges suffering, but it does so in hope, telling us “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

Now, you may feel that your disappointments are too deep, your suffering too intense. You may feel you can no longer hang on. Let me remind you that the Bible gets it. It totally understands your experience. And it offers hope in the midst of your very real storm. It promises that regardless of whether you can hang on, the Love of God in Christ always hangs on to you.

Listen to God’s promise:
…in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 NASB)

You may lose your grip on God; God’s never loses His grip on you.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,

‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
~ Romans 8:35-39 (NASB)

Transcript:

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Self-advancement and self-justification are intuitive to the human heart. We constantly not only put ourselves first, but also justify why we do it. As Katharine Roberts, director of Verity Fellowship puts it: “[A]ccording to the world, life is like a ladder. At the top of the ladder is success, and at the bottom of the ladder is failure. Apart from Christ, we all naturally see life through this lens.”

Even the Apostle Paul admits this was his operating grid. Before meeting Jesus, he describes his life as a sort of ladder climbing narrative: “…I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own contemporaries…” (Galatians 1:14)

Later he describes his “advancement narrative” to the Philippians, “…If anyone…thinks he has reason for confidence in the [himself], I far more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:4-6)

Paul’s pedigree was impeccable and performance impressive.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with having an impressive background or with working hard to better yourself. Self-improvement per se is not a sin. In my opinion, we could use a little more of it. However, when you believe your performance or pedigree IS your identity (your true self) or that it gives you worth before God, then trouble ensues. The only sure place to put your hope is not in your pedigree or performance, but in God himself. He alone is our glory, our shield, and defender.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, ‘He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.”

~Galatians 1:11-24 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

In one very profound sense Christians do not live for this world. And, because of that, in a very profound sense that’s the best possible thing for this world.

What do I mean?

Think of it this way. What causes all the injustice and fighting in this world? In large part it is driven by our lying, stealing and cheating in order to get worldly gain over others that are likewise lying, stealing and cheating in order to do the same. This vicious and envious cycle spirals to the point of misery and even murder.

What drives this obsession? Underneath is a belief that this world is all there is. Simply put, you only go around once. And so, if I don’t get my way in the here and now, I’ll never get it.

However, the Christian is driven by a different vision of the world. She believes and knows that this world is not all there is. Rather, this world is a kind of testing ground for a renewed world yet to come. In the yet-to-come world, God has promised unimaginable delights to all who trust and obey Him in the here and now.

Now, what’s the effect of this? The effect, I think, is quite obvious. Those trusting in this promise from God will live differently in the here and now, because they know the best is yet to come. They will have patience when mistreated, kindness when slandered, courage in the face of opposition, perseverance in doing good, and generosity with their material possession. Why? All because they have a hope that goes beyond here-and-now.

Is this hope driving you?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
~ Luke 12:13-21 (NASB)