The Kingdom Perspective

Transcript:

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

The Bible calls us to encourage one another, and for good reason!

The devil’s tool is discouragement. He loves getting God’s people feeling down and under-valued—that our efforts are useless, that nobody cares, and that all is hopeless. He loves futility. He loves dragging down the work of God in us and through us. And it is my experience that he is most effective with this weapon when people are isolated and tensions are high.

Discouragement is exhausting; it sucks the life out of an individual, a church, a nation. Encouragement, on the other hand, is life-giving; it invigorates us to greater action and perseverance.

What can you do to be an encourager? Here’s a starter list:
• Point out where other people are doing a good job. Catch them doing something right and tell
them.
• Thank others for their work.
• Tell your children, your spouse or a friend how thankful you are for them. Give specifics. Do this
regularly!
• Tell someone that you are praying for them...and indeed, do pray for them! Email them what you
are praying for them.
• Spread “good gossip” (e.g. “Did you hear the wonderful thing that so-and-so has been doing?”).
• Text someone an uplifting verse from Scripture.
• Tell someone how you see God at work in and through them.

Encouragement is powerful. Is it any wonder that the Bible makes such a big deal about it? Consider Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works...encouraging one another ...all the more....”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

~ Hebrews 10:23-25 (ESV)

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

One of our chief responsibilities as followers of Christ is to be vigilant to live not in judgment of others, but in service of others.

In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul details a conflict in the early church over differing opinions on types of food and other matters of personal conscience. Paul basically says that in Christ we have a tremendous level of freedom on such matters of conscience. If the Bible doesn’t mandate it, we are free, and, therefore, we should be careful not to force our personal opinion on others.

However, Paul likewise warns that just because you have the freedom, doesn’t mean that you can use that freedom to trample the weaker conscience of another.

The mark of your spirituality, biblically speaking, is not your ability to judge others nor your freedom to keep others from telling you what to do. Rather, it is marked by your sacrificial service of others – going out of your way, yielding your rights, flexing for the sake of others, and especially for the sake of the unity of the body of Christ.

We are to be like Jesus, not pleasing ourselves, but God.

As the Apostle Paul puts it:
1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. 2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself…. 7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. (Romans 15)

Indeed, Jesus came and bore your weakness. He yielded His rights to take your sin upon Himself. And so, those who follow Him are glad to do the same for the sake of others.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, ‘The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.’ Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.”

~ Romans 5:1-7 (NLT)

Transcript:

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

We should be very cautious in how we use our freedom.

True freedom is not defined by “my rights” (i.e. me getting what I want without interference from others) but by obeying God’s command to sacrificially serve my neighbor.

Listen to Galatians 5:
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

In the context, Paul is commanding us to fight for the full freedom that Christ has won.

But what exactly does that full freedom look like?

Well, Galatians 5:13 explains it:
“13 For you were called to freedom…; only do not use your freedom to satisfy yourself, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Do you want to assert your freedom? Then, you need only to sacrificially love and serve your neighbor. Put their interests, their perspective, above your own. Sacrifice your “rights” and “concerns” for their good. Be more concerned for maintaining unity with them in Christ, than maintaining your comfort or convenience.

When we are driven merely by our “concerns” or our demand for “rights”, we tend to stand in judgment of one another. And if we stand in judgment of one another, then we stand in judgment of God and His commandment. This is a bitter and dangerous place to be. As Paul reminds us in the very next verse: the opposite of loving your neighbor is judging and verbally attacking them. In such cases, “if you bite and devour one another, watch out lest you be destroyed by one another.” (Galatians 5:15).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

~ Galatians 5:1, 13-15 (ESV)

Transcript:

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

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the sadness of life? Well, you are in good company.

The Bible is no stranger to weeping and sadness. “Lament” is an entire genre of biblical literature. The Bible is full of lament. Numerous Psalms fall into this category, not to mention that an entire Old Testament book is named “Lamentations.”

And, of course, there is the book of Job, whose sad life goes on for over forty chapters! Job goes deep into the confusion of lament, but he does so before God, and thus, in faith to Him. Listen to great preacher Charles Spurgeon explain:

“Job was very much troubled, and did not try to hide the outward signs of his sorrow. A man of God is not expected to be a stoic. The grace of God takes away the heart of stone out of his flesh, but it does not turn his heart into a stone. I want you, however, to notice that mourning should always be sanctified with devotion. ‘Ye people, pour out your hearts before Him: God is a refuge for us.’

When you are bowed down beneath a heavy burden of sorrow, then take to worshipping the Lord, and especially to that kind of worshipping which lies in adoring God, and in making a full surrender of yourself to the Divine will, so that you can say with Job, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.’”

God welcomes our weeping. He calls us to bring our lament before Him.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
visit him every morning
and test him every moment?
How long will you not look away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

~ Job 7:11-21 (ESV)

Citation: “Job’s Resignation: Job 1:20-22” by Charles H. Spurgeon on 11 March 1886 as recorded in Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 42.

Transcript:

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

God made us emotional beings, but emotions are tricky things.

If you are like me, you have been repeatedly, in various ways and at various times, overwhelmed by your emotions. What are we to do with these seemingly “unwanted guests”? We need to take our emotions to our Maker and process them before Him.

My good friend Alasdair Groves in his book Untangling Emotions does a great job looking at our inner life through the lens of Scripture. I commend his book to you. He shows that our emotions are a way to explore the deepest movements of our soul—what we most deeply believe, treasure and desire. Thus, engaging our emotions honestly—understanding and processing them—is intended by God to drive us to Him, so that we might more fully believe, treasure and long for Him. He writes:

“Every time you run to a bottle, a screen, or an event instead of your heavenly Father, you are disengaging from your emotions and from him.

“Don’t be deceived. Each of the many above actions is ultimately more than an action. Actions always reveal our core beliefs and confidence.” (Untangling Emotions by Alasdair J. Groves and Winston T. Smith, p. 166)

How you engage your emotions will either drive you to God or away from Him. One is the way of spiritual life; the other the way of death.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah”

~ Psalm 62:1-8 (ESV)

Citation: Untangling Emotions by Alasdair J. Groves and Winston T. Smith (Crossway, 2019).

Transcript:

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

Our faith is a fighting faith because our faith grows stronger in the face of trouble.

This is why the New Testament writer James commands us:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete [i.e. mature], lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)

You see what James is saying? The path to a mature faith is through trials. Our faith actually grows stronger and more steadfast as we navigate difficulties, trusting in the promises of God.

Lebanese-American writer Nassim Taleb is famous for coining the term “antifragile”. “Antifragile” is different than “resilient”. Something that is “resilient” does not easily break under stress (think of a plastic cup; you can bang it around with very little damage). And, of course, something that is “fragile” easily breaks under stress (think of a wine glass). However, something that is “antifragile” does not merely withstand stress; it grows stronger under stress. Think of a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes, and the less you use it, the weaker it becomes. Your muscles are “antifragile”; and so is your faith. The more you use your faith the stronger it becomes.

Though this may be a hard pill to swallow, true faith is never hurt by trials but always helped by them.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Citation: Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Random House, 2012).

Transcript:

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

In a Christian way of thinking government authority is not a necessary evil. It was established by God as a necessary good to facilitate a safe, functioning, and flourishing society. However, just because government is good and necessary does not mean that it is the most basic of social institutions. There are some things that are more foundational than government authority.

Biblically speaking, the home (i.e. marriage and family—the husband-wife and parent-child relationship), the church (i.e. obligation to worship and obey God), and the neighborhood (i.e. our personal responsibility to love our neighbor) all have higher importance than government.

Without the flourishing of these mediating institutions of home, church and neighborhood we are left with sheer governmental force. When homes and neighborhoods are in chaos, governmental coercion becomes the sole ground of social cohesion, and this is not good. It’s not the way God intended it. Rather, love and trust nurtured in the home, church and with one’s neighbors are always the best building blocks to a free and flourishing society.

A government that does not respect and support these institutions, or worse seeks to destroy them, is a government sowing seeds of social disintegration or totalitarianism. And a people that does not pursue the good ordering of these basic building blocks in their own lives is asking for tyranny. The Law of the God, not the law of the state, must always be primary.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

~ Matthew 22:35-39 (NASB95)

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’”

~ Genesis 2:15-18 (NASB95)

“To discipline a child produces wisdom,
but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.
When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes,
but the godly will live to see their downfall.
Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind
and will make your heart glad.
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.
But whoever obeys the law is joyful.”

~ Proverbs 29:15-18 (NLT)

Transcript:

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

As chaos grows in our world, increasingly people look for someone to blame. We cry out:
“It’s the government’s fault!”
“It’s the public schools that have caused our problems!”
“It’s the church’s fault for why my family life is a mess!”
“It’s society or the culture’s fault!”

Now, social forces “out there” are indeed important. There are many layers to social cohesion, and an integrated, well-functioning society involves multiple institutions of our public and private life. It is a structure made with interlocking building blocks. However, the most basic building blocks are always self-management/discipline and your home life management. You and your family are what society is made of.

So, unless you are humbly seeking to get your own house (and self) in order, to shift blame to others (or other institutions), simply avoids the one root issue for which you have a fundamental responsibility.

In my engagement with public school teachers, I am stunned to hear of the level of chaos they are forced to deal with—much of which should be managed on the home level. Yet, more and more is expected of them, while less and less is expected of the individual and family. This can only go on for so long till there is a collapse or a massive social reordering. Like an automobile bridge, our public institutions have a “weight limit”. They can hold only so much before they collapse.

We can pass the buck of blame only so far before the bill is returned to our doorstep for “insufficient funds”.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart."

~ Colossians 3:17-21 (NASB95)

Transcript:

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

In a Christian way of thinking, government authority is not a necessary evil. It was established by God as a necessary good to facilitate a safe, functioning, and flourishing society. However, just because government is a necessary good doesn’t mean that it is the most foundational of social institutions. There are some things that precede government authority.

Biblically speaking, marriage and family life (i.e. the husband-wife and parent-child relationship), our obligation to worship and obey God (i.e. our spiritual/church life, if you will), and our personal responsibility to love our “neighbor” and do him no harm all precede the role of government.

Without the proper functioning of these “mediating” institutions and expectations, then all we are left with to keep society well-ordered is government force. Coercion becomes the ground of social cohesion. But this is not the way God intended it. Rather, love and trust nurtured in the home, church and with one’s neighbors is always the best building blocks to a free and flourishing civilization.

A government that does not respect and support these institutions, or worse seeks to destroy them, is a government that is sowing seeds of social disintegration. And a people that does not pursue the good ordering of these basic building blocks is asking for tyranny. The Law of the God, not the Law of the state, must always be primary.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

~ Matthew 22:35-39 (NASB95)

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’”

~ Genesis 2:15-18 (NASB95)

Transcript:

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

Perhaps no more famous articulation of the limits of human government in recent memory than that of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he responded to mainline White clergy who had criticized his tactics in fighting the “unjust laws” of the Jim Crow South.

In it, he reasons from the theology of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul and Jesus Himself. A human law and the application of that human law are only valid to the degree that they square with the law of God. Why? Because human law is only legitimate within the bounds given to it by divine law. Human authority has its limits.

Remember, Jesus told the corrupt Pontius Pilate: “You would have authority…at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). St. Paul says: “For there is no authority except from God” (Romans 13:1). Therefore, all who wield authority have a solemn responsibility before Almighty God to do so, not as they please, but as justice and mercy would require.

Moreover, all matters of the law must be properly weighted according to the balance given them in the law of God. To do otherwise is to misuse the law and so to operate in some form of lawlessness. As Jesus put it, the “weightier matters of the law” are “justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23), and as the prophet Micah (6:8) admonished:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Do you walk humbly with your God? Do you exercise your rights and powers, not merely for yourself, but for the glory of God and the good of your neighbor?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
~ Micah 6:6-8 (NASB95)