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Woodland Hills Church of Christ episodes

March 08John 10:1-21 I Am the Door of the Sheep, the Good Shepherd
New Testament Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
I Am the Door of the Sheep, the Good Shepherd
John 10:1-21
Introduction: As we read the text before us our first thought might be, “Never have more beautiful words been uttered than these”—“I am the door of the sheepfold; I am the good shepherd.” Those words by Jesus should give us great comfort.
However, a more careful examination reveals that in the original context Jesus was offering more than comfort, he was also revealing condemnation.
When Jesus says, “I am the door of the sheep…I am the good shepherd,” we must remember that John proclaimed Jesus as the “Word.” With every “I AM” statement, Jesus is revealing the beauty of God, and also the very nature of God. Both statements should alert us to three truths that must be clearly accepted and acted upon by us:
We are sheep. It is foolish to think of ourselves any other way. Sheep are extremely vulnerable. They are among the weakest of all farm animals and are completely unable to protect themselves apart from a shepherd. We, however, in contrast do not think of ourselves that way. As Jesus said in the conclusion of chapter 9, we think we see, when we are actually blind.
Without a shepherd, we are without wisdom or direction. Sheep have no idea how to seek good food and water for themselves. On their own, they will starve, become diseased, and die. There is no such thing as “wild sheep” who roam in the open country.
We must choose a shepherd to lead us. There are other choices for “shepherds.” Many claim to be shepherds, but there is only Good Shepherd. All us are “hirelings.”
Seeing the Movement through the Text
As usual, seeing a new chapter division causes us to conclude that we are starting a new event in Jesus’ life. But careful reading shows that this is not so. Note the lead up to chapter 10:
In chapter 5, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath who had been in physical bondage to his illness for 38 years.
In chapter 6, Jesus took on the escalated role of a new Moses leading a new exodus. He portrays this by not only feeding the people, but also crossing the sea by walking on it, and then proclaiming himself to be the bread of life.
In chapter 7, during the Feast of Tabernacles, and at the time of seventh day when the priests poured out water at the altar and calling to God to give them the abundance of water, Jesus cried out, “If any man thirsts let him come to me and drink…out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”
In chapter 8, Jesus at the same time, proclaimed himself as “the light of the world,” and then followed up in chapter 9 with giving sight to a man born blind,
As we come to the end of chapter 9, we see that Jesus has not only healed the physical sight of the man, but has also brought to spiritual sight. The man was cast out of the synagogue by the Pharisees, and therefore banned him from the flock of Israel.
In 9:39, after the confession of belief by the man born blind, Jesus makes a startling statement that his entrance into the world was “for judgment.” That is not that he came “to judge,” but that his entrance created a judgment between those who knew they were blind and needed sight, and those who believed they could see and therefore did not know they were blind.
As you read those final verses of chapter 9, and then into chapter 10, you will recognize immediately that there is no break. Immediately, Jesus answers the Pharisees who had just challenged his statement that they did not recognize their own blindness.
The metaphor of “entering the sheepfold by the door,” and “I am the door to sheep.”
With this metaphor, Jesus speaks of a communal sheepfold that was common in the city. A large enclosed area was provided in which many different flocks of sheep were housed. There was one entrance guarded by a doorkeeper who knew the different shepherds and would only allow a true shepherd to enter. Once inside a shepherd would call his sheep, and only his sheep would respond by gathering to him. He would then lead them out and they would follow because they knew his voice.
In this picture, Jesus is speaking of how one would enter this sheepfold. The only legitimate way to enter was by the door. Anyone attempting to enter another way was a thief and a robber
In the second picture Jesus speaks of a temporary sheepfold that would commonly be set up for the night out in the open field. This sheepfold consisted of four walls but no door. Once the sheep were inside the enclosure and night had fallen the shepherd would lay down at the entrance of the enclosure. He literally became the door of the sheepfold. No sheep could enter or leave except through him. And no wolf or robber could enter except over his body. A true shepherd would never leave that post and leave the sheep unattended. [remember David killing the lion and bear?] But a hireling, one who was in it just for pay and did not love the sheep, would flee and save his own life at the first sign of danger. A true shepherd would literally die protecting the sheep. If the sheep were stolen or destroyed it would only be after he had given his life.
In both illustrations Jesus has placed Himself squarely in contrast to the Jewish leaders as to who was the true shepherd of the flock. They were not true shepherds and did not care for the sheep. Their only interest was self-interest. They neither entered by the door of the sheepfold (were not true to God’s teachings), nor did they care for the sheep like a true shepherd. Those who followed them were not of the Lord’s flock, while those who would not hear their voice [blind man] but instead heard the voice of the Lord were of the true flock. It was no surprise that they cast out the healed blind man or that this man followed Jesus. They were not the good shepherds and he refused to hear their voice.
The Primary Message in the Context
Making the connection between chapters 9 and 10 allows us to see the message Jesus is giving the Pharisees. Jesus is exposing the serious condition of the Pharisees and everyone else who remains blind while they think the see.
As with the Pharisees, when a person thinks he sees, he is like a lamb who decides he can explore any part of the countryside he desires. Some sheep, and most people, think they will be fine exploring whatever they desire. Their thoughts and their ways become their shepherd. Cf. Isaiah 55:8-9.
Therefore, Jesus is proclaiming that you cast this blind man out of your sheepfold because you are a thief and a robber. He has now not only entered another sheepfold, but he actually entered by the door of the sheepfold. We must hear the message today.
There is only one sheepfold and there is only one door to that sheepfold, and that is Jesus. There is no other!
We often see Christians “slipping, falling away, turning in other directions, and generally no longer fully trusting in the Shepherd. The simple question is, where do you think you are going? You leave the shepherd and the sheepfold and you will lose life. You will die.
Verse 11 “I am the good shepherd.” Contrast verse 10, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.” Jesus is the good shepherd, not a good shepherd. Jesus is clearly calling on us to choose! There is a choice. Which will you choose?
Ask yourself, what happened to those leaders? What happened to the Pharisees? What happened to the Jewish nation? They followed other shepherds and they were destroyed…brutally!
The Message for Us: The Sheep Hear His Voice
That is what is unique about sheep: they follow the voice of their shepherd, and they not only will listen to his voice, they will flee from a stranger—any other potential shepherd. What is a stranger? What is another shepherd? Paul said in well in Ephesians 2:2, we followed “the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air.” Most people, and even some who call themselves Christians, do not know who they are following. If it is not the good shepherd, it is the devil. When I read this the first thing I think of is, as dumb as sheep are, in this regard, they are smarter than us. Listen to the good shepherd.
How do you know if you are in the good shepherd’s flock? You hear his voice! Please remember, Jesus is talking to the most religious people of his day. We often meet people who are very sincere in their beliefs. But sincerity is not the test. Do they hear his voice, or are they ignoring his voice and following their own voices? This is simple identity question. Follow his voice and you are his sheep. Don’t follow it, and you are not his sheep.
Verse 3 “…he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” This is not, “Hey, you all can come out now!” He calls each by name. A shepherd would have a certain “voice” he would use for each animal. Jesus knows us individually. He is calling you, specifically you. Will you follow? Verse 14, “I know my own and my own know me.”
Principle: Shepherds lead, they do not drive the flock!
Shepherds must be decisive concerning the direction and needs of the flock.
It is the reason they are “elders.” They are expected to have greater wisdom and greater experience than the flock. The flock is able to lie down when the elders lead and take the flock where they ought to go.
When the children of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt, Moses didn’t take a vote. The question is not what would the congregation like to do. The question is, what is the best for the spiritual welfare of the church! Many elders of churches have told me that after COVID, the church got accustomed to not meeting Sunday evening, so we went along. Really? You didn’t answer the question of where you are leading this church and how will meeting less enhance our spiritual growth.
The sinfulness of shepherds who think they are cowboys. Your flock are sheep, not cows. Matthew 20:25.
The Value of Following: “I Am the Door…the Good Shepherd”
Those who enter will “go in and out.” — They are always safe; the wolf cannot touch them. The good shepherd is always there.
10: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus is the only path to life, that is, true abundant living. He is not just talking about eternity, that abundant life is even being tasted now.
13-14: Jesus is the only one who cares for the flock. Only Jesus can be trusted with our lives. “He knows his own.”
15: Jesus lays down his life for the sheep. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
17: Jesus lays down his life so that he could give and attain an even greater life.
Conclusion: It is almost humorous to read in verse 20 that some heard this and said, “He has a demon, and is insane.” No, insanity is living without the Good Shepherd.
Berry Kercheville
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30 min
March 08 Genesis 9:1-17 God’s Covenant
Bible Classes / Speaker:Michael Lindsey
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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45 min
March 05 Genesis 8:20 – 9:7 Noah’s Sacrifice
Bible Classes / Speaker:Michael Lindsey
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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43 min
March 02Jeremiah 5 – 9: Disaster Looms – The Temple Is Not The Answer
Old Testament Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
Disaster Looms: The Temple Is Not the Answer
Jeremiah 5-9
Introduction: Reading these chapters we see God giving Jeremiah a justification for the destruction of the nation. In the end, Jeremiah is totally appalled as God pulls back the curtain and reveals the utter sinfulness of the people and their refusal to listen to God.
Chapter Five: Introductory Description of Israel’s Stubbornness
5:1 Search the city to see if you can find a man who does justice and seeks truth. God had promised Abraham that he would spare Sodom if just 10 righteous could be found in the city. With Jerusalem, God says, “Just find one!”
5:3 No punishment or severe consequences of their sin will change them.
5:7-8 “How can I pardon you?” They are full of adultery, as lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
5:12-13 The people mock God. “He will do nothing…the prophets will become wind…”
5:15-17 Description of the invasion
5:19 Why will God destroy them? “As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.”
5:22-23 Even the powerful seas obey the command of the Lord, “but this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart.”
5:28 They do not give justice to the fatherless or defend the rights of the needy.
5:30-31 “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?”
Chapter Six: Disaster Comes!
6:1-6 Description of the invasion. God is directing the attack!
6:7 illustrates the nature of sin. As a well continues to provide fresh water, so the people continue to come up with more evil. That is the way sin is. Sin pushes back on the idea of “just a little.” Sin says, “There’s more to see; there’s more to experience; don’t miss out!” (Like Facebook)
6:10 God tries to give a warning. But his word is an object of scorn. “They take no pleasure in it.” Good question: do we take pleasure in the word of the Lord?
6:13-15 “They [prophet & priest] have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is not peace.” Prophet and priest treats the people’s sins as if they are nothing; not a big deal. There won’t be consequences. That’s because they are making money from the sacrifices! They commit abominations before the Lord, but they are not at all ashamed nor to they blush. Such callousness is the reason sin is so dangerous!
6:16 “Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is…” God doesn’t keep “revealing” his ways and his laws. They have been revealed long ago, and he has not changed.
6:20 We can’t pay God off with expensive gifts or sacrifices! This may have been the result of Josiah’s restoration. But the hearts of the people had not changed.
6:23 They are coming! They are cruel and have no mercy…against you, O daughter of Zion!
6:27-30 Jeremiah, a tester of metals. When Jeremiah preached God’s word to them, he was testing their hearts, exposing their character. God proclaimed that they are “bronze and iron,” that is, resistant and hardened, not like gold and silver that can be purified. The “fire bellows fiercely” against them and the lead is consumed, but these wicked are not affected. God has tried to purify the people, but they cannot be purified. Therefore, they all will be taken away.
Chapter 7 The Temple Has Become an Idol
(Jeremiah’s speech at the gate of the temple to those who enter to worship the Lord)
“Worship” describes bowing down to someone higher and acknowledging total dependence on God. But the physical action of bowing and the words from the lips of proclaiming praise is not the true essence of worship.
7:3-4 Trusting in the “temple of the Lord.” How foolish and stubborn the Sanhedrin Council in the days of Stephen (Acts 7)! Do we today put our trust in, “we go to church and worship” while our ways and deeds have not changed?
7:3-4 “Amend your ways and your deeds”—now that is worship!
7:21-26 I didn’t ask for sacrifices. I commanded, “Obey my voice…”
7:25 “I have persistently sent my servants the prophets…yet they did not listen.” How persistent has God been with us? All 66 books! How many Christians have lived their whole lives only knowing a third of that? (NT is a third)
Lesson: Are God’s laws and commandments something negative to you? Do you look at them as restrictions to the life you would like to live? Is seeking God in diligent study, praying and seeking his heart, and coming to worship to draw closer to him and to each other a burden? Do you evaluate serving God on the basis of finding the minimum you have to do?
7:30–8:3 They have put their detestable things in the house of the Lord and built high places of Topheth (“stove or oven”) in the Valley of Hinnom. It will soon be called the Valley of Slaughter!
Chapter Eight: Sinfulness Makes No Sense
8:4-7 “when men fall, do they not rise again?” They do evil like a horse plunging into battle without considering the consequences. But even a stork knows her times. You people do not have the intelligence of a bird!
8:8 They call themselves wise, but “Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.” (KJV). Or, “the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely” (NIV. Or, “…those who teach it have used their writings to make it say what it does not say” (NET).
8:13 “…there are no grapes on the vine…”
Mark 11:12-14 Jesus made the same accusation.
“On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.”
John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
8:14-15 A confession made too late. “We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror.” You looked in all the wrong places.
8:18—9:3 The weeping of Jeremiah over the coming destruction. Cf. Luke 19:41-44 Jesus wept over Jerusalem’s coming destruction.
Chapter Nine: When Sin Is at Its Worst
9:4-9 Societal breakdown. When sin multiplies, no one can be trusted.
9:11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins…without inhabitant.” Who could believe such a thing could happen?
God has given us warning after warning in the NT. Are we lazy in our preparation? Do we think, “Well, it won’t happen today or even in the near future?”
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
9:13-14 Why will God do this to them? “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” When we don’t change, God calls us stubborn! Let’s ask the question again: what is the problem with idolatry? Why is it there two commands out of ten that forbid it? Because out trust and hope is to only be in God! Anything else, and we are idolators!
9:23-24 “…let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me…” Our wisdom, strength, or wealth will not save us! Nothing we have or can do will save us from the coming judgment. There is only one hope.
9:25-26 “…I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh.” How about merely baptized? You are no better than the pagan nations! But you go into the temple of the Lord every week! Ha!
Conclusion: Have you seen the mind and heart of God in these chapters? Have you felt his anger and wrath? Have you seen his determinations and his unfailing promise to justify himself by punishing those who do not fear him and obey him?
Berry Kercheville
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52 min
March 01 Humility
New Testament Sermons / Speaker:David Desloge
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The post Humility appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
36 min
March 01 Genesis 8:1-19 God Remembers Noah
Bible Classes / Speaker:Michael Lindsey
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The post Genesis 8:1-19 God Remembers Noah appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
44 min
February 26 Genesis 7:1-24 The Flood
Bible Classes / Speaker:Michael Lindsey
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The post Genesis 7:1-24 The Flood appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
45 min
February 23 What Does Faith Look Like?
Old Testament Sermons / Speaker:Jared Partain
Proverbs 3:1-12
The post What Does Faith Look Like? appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
24 min
February 22 Genesis 6:8 – 22 The Ark
Bible Classes / Speaker:Michael Lindsey
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The post Genesis 6:8 – 22 The Ark appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
44 min
February 22Romans 12:9 Freedom! Detachment From Sin
New Testament Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville
Freedom! Detachment from Sin
Introduction: Romans 12:9 “Abhor what is evil; cleave to what is good.” How are you doing with that command? Please note, Paul’s inspired command does not say, “Don’t do what is evil,” it says, “Abhor it.” There are many temptations to sin that we try not to do and succeed in not doing, but that does not mean we abhor the sin. You will notice, the text contains an extreme contrast: “abhor” and “cleave” (“glue, weld together, adhere, attach oneself to”). To the extent that we cleave/hold fast to what is good, the more we are able to abhor what is evil.
The word detachment, though not specifically used, is a good description of the verse. The only way to abhor something is to become completely detached from it. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus admonition is, your love for him is to be so great, that to challenge that love or in any way suggest a competing love, should have a reaction of hate.
Matthew 6:25-33 Even though Jesus is dealing with things we need to live on this earth, notice how he turns our minds away from those needs to concentrate on the Kingdom and righteousness. Again, there is abhorring anxiousness in favor of seeking first the kingdom.
The Battle with Our Desires
Why are we tempted? Why does the desire seem so strong? We were created to seek inner fulfillment (Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 “And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”).
Satan urges us to seek fulfillment with empty promises. The sin or diversion from God never meets up to the possibilities the mind has created. In fact, every time the sin is committed, it disappoints more than it did previously. We are using a person or a thing to fill an inner void which never can be filled apart from God.
Look at it rationally, we can realize that these uncontrolled appetites damage us in two ways:
They deprive us of enjoying God and what truly satisfies.
These desires torment us and corrupt our minds until we are enslaved by them.
The problem is: “It is extremely difficult to deny ourselves what we truly desire.” We may occasionally have success in overcoming our desires, but it is unlikely that we will consistently conquer those desires. What can be done?
What if we could rid ourselves of those appetites? If the appetite is extinguished, there will no longer be a desire to feed on those sinful pleasures. But is that possible? It is not possible to escape all temptation, but it is possible to no longer have an appetite for that which Satan tempts us.
That is exactly what God argues we can do (Colossians 3:1-7; Ephesians 4:17-24). In fact, did Jesus really want to jump off the temple, turn the stones to bread, or fall down and worship the devil? No! He conquers the temptation because his desire for the Father is intensely passionate beyond any other desire.
Our problem and humanity’s problem is that we think we can overcome by simply refusing a pleasure that our heart desires. We are trying to fix the wrong thing. It is the heart’s desires that need fixing, not simply the will-power (Matt. 5:21-28). We will never be successful in fighting a sin if we do not stop the craving.
The problem with our present cultural arguments:
Our culture celebrates their attractions/desires and identifies with them as special and so compelling that anything but fulfillment is unfair and cheating them out of a fulfilling life.
In regard to sexuality, regardless of one’s sexual attractions, every human has had to deal with sexual sins and fight the desires of the mind.
God made us with desires! He also gave us right and wrong ways to fulfill the desires. All desires can partially be fulfilled now but ultimately fulfilled in eternity with the Lord — “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
God’s argument in scripture is not that temptations to sin will go away, but that we are able to conquer those desires through Christ.
Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Every Earthly Desire Disappoints (Isaiah 55:1-3)
Only God is a sure thing. Only God can and will provide for our emotional and physical needs. God intentionally made it this way!
But what do we do instead?
We follow the example of Eve. Satan convinced her that the tree could give her something more and better than what God gave her and would give her. That is the nature of every temptation. Subtly, this our default path to all our stresses, desires, and life’s trials.
If a friendship, marriage, or family, spouse, child, or parent does not respond to our expectations to fulfill certain emotional or physical needs, we may react by lashing out, withdrawing, demanding, threatening, and in general becoming frustrated and miserable.
We desperately need to understand that our demands of things and people ruin relationships, destroy joy and pleasure, and detach us from God. Let’s say this plain and simple: When I expect an activity, a recreation, a job/career to fill my emptiness and give me what I believe is denied me in this life, I have created an idol. Whatever these unfulfilled desires are, they have become my Baal and my Asheroth—a substitute god to provide what I believe I deserve that the Lord God will not provide!
When I expect my job or career to give me inner fulfillment, I am elevating work to a level never intended. Again, Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 warns us of this through the example of Solomon. He did more than any other in great accomplishments through his labor. He fulfilled every desire of his heart. And yet when it was all done, he said it profited nothing, all was vanity and striving after wind!”
When a man expects his wife, or a woman her husband to fill their inner emptiness and give them the meaning and security they expect for their lives, they have replaced the God with their spouse and have elevated their spouse to be their idol/god. This damages our spouse and puts him/her in an impossible position. She cannot be my god and fulfill my deepest needs and desires any more than the idols of Israel could be for Israel.
Can we see the result of this in friendships, in parents with children and children with parents, in churches, careers, and marriages? Only God can ultimately fill us with what we really need. Through love, we provide for one another, we comfort one another during trials, we stir one another up to be better than what we have been, but none of us can replace God. When a person expects anything from an object, an activity, or a person that only God can supply, they have rejected God and turned to idolatry.
Detachment: Freedom from Uncontrolled Appetites
When Teresa and I married, we vowed, “…forsaking all others, cleave unto you and you alone until death do we part.” When we marry, we are rejecting the romantic love of all others and all other things because of the intense love for one another. That reminds us of an important biblical principle: Intense love for something, especially God or spouse, leads to the rejection of something else. Seeing this from our earthly marriages, consider an immediate application:
Husbands, what does this covenantal promise imply?
Proverbs 5:18-21 “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.”
Wives, what does this promise imply?
Proverbs 31:10-12, 28-29 “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life…Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”
What then is the key to joy and pleasure in an earthly marriage? What keeps both husband and wife pure and deeply attached to one another? How do they reject any attractions/desires that would compete with their love? Appetites for all else and anyone else are eliminated by pursuing and growing an intense love for each other. With that, every competing desire or appetite is disgusting. Hey Solomon, the Lord proclaimed through you that one wife would fulfill you, while a 1000 wives would empty you.
The same is true with God.
Colossians 2:8-10, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”
Cf. Colossians 3:5–6, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”
How can we be free of the bondage earthly desires and fleshly sins? How can we stop finding our meaning and security in people, things, positions, money, and power? It is by increasing love and adoration for God! Someone says, “But why would I give up my pursuit to fill my emptiness and find contentment and pleasure?” Because when you worship Baal and Asheroth, they aren’t real and they won’t fulfill you or give you pleasure! It is like saying to a hungry man, “Here, eat this dirt, it will fill your stomach.”
Thus the words of the Messiah’s invitation, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” (Isaiah 55:2)
Critical Question: Do you trust God? Do you truly believe in him? If we put that to a public response, we would likely hear a resounding “Yes!” I’m sorry, but I have a hard time believing you. Trusting God means, I am willing to wait for him to heal and provide for my needs, my desires, my hurts, and my emptiness. And I am content to know that he will not disappoint me. Now do you trust God? I know myself well enough to know that is not always the case. Sometimes it may even be rarely the case.
Conclusion: You will not grow your love for God by simply assembling with Christian and being at worship, though the more devoted we are to our gatherings to worship and study, the more motivated to pursue an intense love for God. The primary discipline needed for intense, passionate love is your combination of one on one time with God in prayer and study and your sharing that love and joy with fellow Christians.
What will not work, and what will never work, is simply telling yourself to not give in to those desires and hound you. If you detach yourself from the desire by pursuing the affections that are above, you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.
Colossians 3:1-4 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Berry Kercheville
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