jeffersonvann

reflecting grace

LORD, today you have challenged me by your word to reflect grace in my relationships, and I want to do that.

John said of you that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” you reflected the glory of heaven. I want to do that too.

I especially want to be an agent of grace to the people you have blessed me with in my family, my church, my friends, the people I casually encounter, and the people I minister to by my writings.

I believe that I have received grace from you, and that I can be a reflection of that grace. I also know that by allowing my flesh to prevail I can hinder that reflection. Cleanse the mirror of my life by your Holy Spirit so that I reflect you in purity, without distortion.

I believe that I, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, am “being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” I pray that I will always be a willing participant in the process.

I pray that many others come into your kingdom after seeing it reflected in my life.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

______________________

see Ephesians 5:22-6:9; John 1:14, 16-17; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Depression

I’ve been going through a bit of a rough road for a while now. I trust the LORD to lead me out of it. He always does. It’s just taking longer than usual.

I found comfort today in the words of this sermon that I preached in 2009. If you are going through tough times, I hope this helps you as much.

Psalm 42:1-11 (ESV)

TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A MASKIL OF THE SONS OF KORAH.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

If you want to know what a person is thinking, listen to his conversations. If you want to know what he is feeling, listen to his songs. That’s why the psalms are so important to Christians. We get to go deeper into the inner feelings of people as they wrestled with life and God and the devil. As we do that, we realize something really important: they felt like us. They got mad at the same things that we do. They felt glad at the same kinds of things that make us glad. The same sorts of things embarrassed them, and the same conditions that tend to depress us, made them depressed as well.

This psalm bares a soul who is in the depths of an ugly depression. For that reason alone it deserves a place in the scriptures because God’s people need to know that it’s OK to feel that way some time. If you wake up feeling depressed, it doesn’t mean that you have somehow failed God. We are commanded to rejoice in the LORD:

Psalm 64:10 “Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD”
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

So, what do we do when we don’t feel like obeying those commands? This psalm is written for just such times as that. It’s like a blues song. It’s a song you can sing when you don’t feel like singing. It’s a song about hard times, disappointment, distress. It digs deep into the pits -the bad times, but it doesn’t leave us there. In fact, within this psalm are some of the tools that we can use to pull ourselves out of depression. Do you want to know what those tools are? Well, listen up.

1)Tool #1: Realize that depression is a natural consequence to living in a fallen world.

This psalm was written by a believer who suffered from depression (5-6,11).

We do not know whether one of the descendants of Korah was the author, or whether they were just a group of collectors. But whoever the original author of this psalm was, two things are sure about it: it bears the mark of the Holy Spirit, and it reflects the feelings of a person who is battling with depression.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?”
“Why are you in turmoil within me?”
“My soul is cast down within me”

Many of the psalms were written by those who had deep bouts of depression.

There is, in fact, a whole category of psalms that reflect the believer’s inner conflict when times are bad. They are called psalms of Lament. Jeremiah’s book Lamentations was a Lament.

Many of the heroes of the faith suffered from depression.

John Calvin was of the opinion that Psalm 42 was actually written by David, and that is possible, considering all the psalms that are ascribed to David which struggled with this same harsh reality. We know, for example that David wrote:

Psalm 22:1-2 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”

Jesus himself quoted that psalm when he was in agony on the cross. Why would he do that? It is a psalm that reflected such disappointment, such despair, that the Holy Spirit used it to predict Christ’s ordeal on the cross!

Psalm 22:6-8 “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; `He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!'”

Psalm 22:14-18 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Feelings of depression can be the Holy Spirit yearning for what’s next (2,5-6,11).

In psalm 42, the psalmist forced himself to look beyond the present problems and envision a triumphant future.

Psalm 42:2 “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 42:5-6,11 “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

This is the Holy Spirit’s way of reminding us that the last line of the song has not yet been written. The troubles we face are real. They reflect the fact that we live in a fallen world where the good guys don’t always win, and evil sometimes triumphs, but that is only temporary. When the last line of the song is written, God is the winner, and things are set right. Remember psalm 22? Here’s how it ends:

Psalm 22:27-31 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

That explains why Jesus could be quoting such a sad song as he hung on the cross. He was reminding himself of the bad predicament he was in – true. But the Holy Spirit was reminding him of the eternal result of his suffering. All the ends of the earth will remember his day on the cross. Posterity shall serve him!

2)Tool #2: Recognize that the circumstances of your life are not accidental.

The psalmist finds himself not where he wants to be (6).

Psalm 42:6 “I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.”

I think that the psalmist of Psalm 42 was not David, but was one of the descendants of Korah. He was a Levite, and his life revolved around the annual worship celebrations at the temple of God in Jerusalem. But here’s the problem: he cannot go to Jerusalem. He is held captive in a Gentile land far north of Jerusalem.

He is haunted by the inability to return to the glory days of the past (4).

Psalm 42:4 “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.”

When I pastored in a small church many years ago, I had a couple in my church who had been members in a large, energetic church. They were a great couple, and I thank the Lord for their contribution to our church, but they complained a lot. When I visited them, they would constantly compare their present church experience to that church in their glorious past. Their present circumstances were unbearable for them, not because I was a bad pastor, and not because we had bad programs or people, but because they were living in the past. Depression does that to you.

The Korahite is lost in his memories of a better day – a day when he could function in his God-given role as a leader in a worship procession like no other. Vast crowds would laugh and sing, chant scriptures and hug each other as they marched into the Holy City itself… and he would be among the Levites leading them.

Perhaps you have had a great experience in your past. Hang on to those memories and rejoice in them, but don’t get stuck there. God has a future for you too. Don’t allow your past to keep you from experiencing the new blessings God has in store for you today and tomorrow. Rejoice over yesterday, and then let it go. The same Holy Spirit who gave you a good yesterday has a great tomorrow for you. Expect it.

He is hounded by constant reminders that his witness is inadequate. They ask “where is your God?” (3,10).

To add insult to injury, the Korahite appears to have lived in a pagan land with relative prosperity. He was a poor believing stranger living among rich unbelievers. His neighbors noticed that his tent was a little shabby compared to theirs. He had fewer animals, or maybe none at all. His crops didn’t gleam in the sun as brightly as theirs did. They would pass by him and deliver one of the most crushing rhetorical questions ever.
Psalm 42:3 “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, `Where is your God?'”

Psalm 42:10 “As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, `Where is your God?'”

Those pagan Gentiles had only one way of looking at things: the religious way. If a man is poor, or unhealthy, or lives in unsanitary conditions, it’s a reflection on the god he serves. He’s poor because his god is weak.

Now, how is a person supposed to witness in a situation like that? You see, being a witness is not just a New Testament thing. It didn’t begin with the Great Commission. God wanted the nation of Israel to be witnesses to his greatness, “that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other” (1 Kings 8:60). But things are so bad for this Korahite that he is witnessing in reverse – he seems to be driving people away from God.

He asks “why?” (5,9,11).

He asks himself why he feels so bad. He knows he should not feel that way. He hasn’t forgotten his theology. He knows who God is, and he knows God is still on his throne. But he feels bowed down, humiliated inside. His anger is turned inward, and it is eating him up.

Psalm 42:5,11 “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”

Then he turns his questioning to God, and asks him “why?”

Psalm 42:9 “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy”

If you ever get to that point in your life where you want to ask God “why?” then go ahead and do it. I’m not going to stop you. If you are counseling with someone who keeps asking God “why?” then let them go ahead and do it. Do not stop them. Don’t give them the idea that God does not want them to ask “why?” I say this for several reasons:

First, asking “why?” is part of a normal grieving process. We were built to look for answers to the mysteries in our lives.

Second, asking “why?” is a form of prayer, and prayer gets the depressed person closer to God, which is just what he needs.

Third, don’t think that asking God “why?” is a challenge or an insult to God. He’s a big God, he can take it.

We can ask God “why?” because he knows the answer. The circumstances of your life are not accidental. They are all part of his plan. He may give you an answer as you ask him to explain what you are going through. But even if he doesn’t give you an answer right now, he will help you to see that there is an answer. He has a plan, and he is working out that plan.

When you get to that point, you can say with Joseph:

Genesis 50:20 “As for you (my brothers who sold me as a slave), you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

When you get to that point, you can say with the Apostle Paul:

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.”

And what did Paul mean by “all things”?

2 Corinthians 11:23-28 “with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

Paul was probably well acquainted with Psalm 42. He was no stranger to difficult times, but he knew that God was behind the scenes in every one of those times causing things to work together for his good. He knew that the circumstances of his life were not accidental, and neither are the circumstances of our lives.

3)Tool #3: Retrain your feelings by centering on God himself.

He pants for God like a thirsty deer (1-2).

Psalm 42:1-2 “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Those words seem strange today because our society has developed a thirst for everything but God. When times are bad we cry after the government to fix it. Well, I have no problem with the government trying to fix my problems, but I suspect that some of them are beyond the government’s ability to fix. The psalmist here was wise enough to understand that his problem was not really the circumstances of his life. His problem was that he had developed a God-shaped hole in his life. Brothers and sisters, there’s a hole in us that only God can fill.

He encourages himself to hope in God (5,11).

Psalm 42:5-6,11 “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

In other words, the song is not over yet. The psalmist keeps reminding himself that the Sovereign God is still working, and he will write the last verse.

He remembers past experiences with God (6).

Psalm 42:6 “I remember you”

One of the best cures for depression is a scrapbook or photo album. Just bring it out and start remembering all the good times you have had in God’s presence with godly friends. If you don’t have something like that – get it. If you can’t remember any experiences like that – that’s what church membership is for.

He keeps his relationship with God strong (7-8).

Psalm 42:7-8 “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”

Nothing is more powerful to conquer depression than a regular devotional life. The psalmist would apparently go for regular walks in the woods, and every time he came upon a stream or waterfall he would hear God talking. Every day he would reflect on how God loves him, and he would spend time singing and praying every night.

I don’t know what kind of week you are having, but if you are struggling with depression, you’ve come to the right place. God is here, and he wants to help you overcome that depression.

on Matthew 26:64

R.H. asks

“Can you refer me to a helpful explanation of what exactly the Lord Jesus meant when he spoke (to) the High Priest in Matthew 26.64?”

Matthew 26:64 ESV

Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Caiaphas used this statement by Jesus as his only evidence to assert that Jesus was a blasphemer and deserved death. To him, Jesus had definitely crossed the line with the statement. What was Jesus saying?

He affirmed Caiaphas’ charge that he claimed to be the Christ, the Son of God. The idiomatic statement “You have said so” was understood as a direct confirmation.
He implied that more evidence would follow. The statement “but I tell you, from now on…” is the equivalent of the modern colloquialism “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
His challenge was not specifically to Caiaphas, but to all of the people he represented. The second “you” in the verse is plural in the Greek, and so is the third “you”. He is speaking to the Sanhedrin Council. He asserts that they will personally see that Jesus is who he says he is at some point in the future. By extension, this challenge applies to all unbelieving Jews and all other nations and individuals who reject Christ in this life.
Particularly, Jesus claims to be the one who will fulfill Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man who comes in the clouds (Daniel 7:13-14). This is a reference to his second coming. This explains when this revelation will ultimately take place.
Jesus’ reference to his being “seated at the right hand of power” seems to come from Psalm 110:1-2. This messianic prediction speaks of a time when the Messiah will rule over the earth, and God will defeat all of his enemies. Caiaphas would have understood this statement as a direct rejection of his authority as high priest. Jesus implied that by rejecting him, Caiaphas had sided with all other authorities who reject God, and will suffer their fate.

Why would Jesus use the enigmatic phrase “from now on” (Greek ap arti) if he was referring to his second coming? I think he implied that the first evidence of his messiahship and coming glory was going to be the crucifixion itself. It was the crucifixion that the Sanhedrin was calling for. Jesus was tying together the two divergent aspects of the Messiah by saying that the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is going to prove to be the Son of Man of Daniel 7. Remember that all the members of the Sanhedrin affirmed the concept of the coming Messiah in principle.

This should serve as a wake-up call for all of those who claim to believe in God and the Bible but are not yet ready to subscribe to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and to join his church. The trial that day was not a debate between atheists and theists. It came down to one man: a carpenter’s son from Nazareth. The ultimate fate of millions of people depended upon the Sanhedrin’s willingness to accept that Jesus was who he said he was. They were unwilling.

The gospel affirms that Jesus is who he said he was. Those willing to accept that claim will not be ashamed when they see him coming in the clouds.

ACST 38: The Discipler

Jesus told his disciples “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”[1] On the one hand, he gave us an impossible task: keeping his commandments. It is harder to do that than to keep the Old Testament commandments, and no one was able to accomplish that task.

On the other hand, we have help that the Old Testament saints did not have. Jesus personally asked the Father to send someone to help us live the life Jesus commanded us to live, and that someone is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit continues the discipling work that Christ began. He was sent specifically from heaven to carry on Christ’s work. The best way to understand this aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to see how Jesus Christ discipled.

Empowerment

Jesus empowered his disciples to do what he called them to do. When he commissioned the twelve for itinerant ministry, he “called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.”[2] He did not ask them to do what he had not demonstrated for them, and given them the means to do so. When he had trained and commissioned another group – the seventy – he likewise assured them that they had the power to do what he asked. He told them “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”[3] With the task came the empowerment.

Some teach that Jesus has somehow shortchanged us during this age. They seem to feel that now discipling can be carried out without supernatural power to heal and deliver from demonic bondage. There is no indication of such a paradigm shift in the New Testament. Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus told the believers present with him that “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was tied to two things: The physical absence of Jesus Christ in bodily form, and the need to disciple all nations before his return. Neither of these two factors have changed in the past two thousand years.

What is more, the Holy Spirit needed to come not just to regenerate sinners, but to do so with power. Jesus told the disciples that “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.” The task of witnessing to Christ’s resurrection was never meant to be carried out without the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.

The Sanhedrin council asked Peter and John “By what power or by what name did you do this?” They were doing what Christ had commanded, and they were doing it in his name. They were doing it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke says that “with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”[4]

Illumination

Jesus came to bring light to a dark place – to illuminate a people who were lost in darkness. Isaiah predicted that “there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”[5] He foretold that when the gospel of Christ was first preached, it would be in that dark and desolate place.

John commented that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”[6] But neither did the darkness dispel entirely. Even though “the light has come into the world, (some) people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”[7] The rejoiced to see the light in Christ, but ultimately rejected that light because it exposed sin that they wanted to keep. Jesus said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”[8] But he said that to the Pharisees, who refused to believe that he was who he said he was.

Illumination is like that. It is here for us to utilize if we dare do so. But it can also be lost. Who does not know a person who claimed to be a Christian, and lived like a Christian for a time, only to ultimately reject Christ and faith. This is a reality that everyone knows about. Paul talks about two people who “have made shipwreck of their faith.”[9] Perhaps they did so by rejecting the light that they had been shown. It is a dangerous thing to do so.

The Holy Spirit helps us keep the ship of our faith in safety. He serves as a lighthouse that helps us to stay on course with the life that we received when we came to Christ. In our lives, “the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.”[10] It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to distinguish between the world’s darkness and the truth-light of the gospel. He continues the discipling task of illumination that Jesus began in Galilee.

He also has a special ministry of illumination in respect to the message of the Bible. It is “only the illumination of the Holy Spirit, opening our heart to God’s word and God’s word to our hearts, (which) can bring understanding of, conviction about, and consent to, the things that God declares.”[11]

Paul taught about this ministry. He said that “…we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”[12] This implies that the Holy Spirit creates three separate abilities: 1) the ability to understand what is written in the Bible, 2) the ability to pass on that understanding through teaching, 3) the ability to understand and apply God’s truth through the medium of teachers.

Intercession

Jesus also spent a great deal of time praying for his disciples. He prayed before he chose them.[13] He prayed for their strength to endure temptation.[14] He also interceded for them in other ways. When they found themselves incapable of doing what they thought they should do, he stepped in and did it for them.

The Holy Spirit does that for believers as well. Paul taught that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”[15] This is much more than simply a ministry of praying for us. It is stepping in to the ring and taking on the ministry of prayer on our behalf when we are not up to the task.

One of the reasons this ministry is necessary is that believers do not always know how to pray, because we are not always privy to God’s plan. We do not always understand enough of the situation we are in to know what God is doing among us. We see only the struggle, not the intended victory. we see only the pain, not the glory that will come afterward. In such cases, we are liable to pray for the wrong things: immediate control of the situation, immediate release from the difficulties, etc. But God sees the whole picture. In such cases, the Holy Spirit’s ministry of intercession comes to the throne of God with a different agenda than the humans who are praying. His intercession is more likely to be for our strength to endure the battle and our ability to see beyond it. He prays not that we necessarily get what we are asking for, but that our faith can stay strong while we do not.

Sanctification

If it had not been for Jesus, the disciples would never have had the impact upon the world that they did. His presence changed them. His ministry impacted their lives, and made them different people. At its heart, this is what sanctification means. The holiness and separateness and uniqueness of Jesus Christ was visited upon the disciples, and turned them into saints. When he prayed for them, he said “for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”[16]

The Holy Spirit continues that ministry as well. Jesus described the believer as one through whom the Holy Spirit would flow like water flows through a river.[17] The presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers makes us different than what we would have been, and ensures the final outcome of our lives is God’s glory. He transforms our minds so that we know and seek what God wants.[18] He will ultimately transform our lives so that we look like Christ does.[19] That transformation may seem like a very slow process with many setbacks. It is. But the process itself is one of the ministries that the Holy Spirit does within us today.

Endowment

Jesus also gave special gifts to his disciples: supernatural abilities that went far beyond simply utilizing the talents that these disciples had originally. Part of their transformation was requiring more of them than they felt capable of giving. An example of this is the time when thousands had gathered for a dinner and a show.

The disciples came to Jesus with some practical advice and said “”This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.””[20] The natural course of events brought the disciples to a need that they were sure that they could not meet. They brought the problem to Jesus, and even suggested a solution. But Jesus saw this as an opportunity to reveal that within the disciples themselves was a supernatural solution to the problem.

The Charismata get bad press from some people today – even some Christians. This is partly because many who dare to believe in the spiritual gifts only know how to operate in them based on some bad, subjective examples. Such was the case in Paul’s day as well. The Corinthians — anxious to demonstrate God’s power at work in their lives – did a lot of things the Holy Spirit did not want to do, and blamed them on him. For example:

1. Someone were getting into illicit sexual partnerships, probably claiming that the Spirit led him into the relationships.[21]

2. Some believers were apparently jumping into marriage commitments, perhaps thinking that they were motivated by the Spirit.[22]

3. Some were passing judgment on other Christians, perhaps believing that they were exercising discernment. They were even becoming critical of Paul’s ministry.[23]

4. Some were comparing their gifts with those manifested by other Christians. Paul had to remind them that though the gifts should be pursued, it should always be in an atmosphere of love.[24]

5. Some were manifesting their gifts in public worship in a way that fostered confusion and competition. Paul encouraged them to be considerate of each other and tone the charismata down because such displays of disorder are not what the Holy Spirit is all about.[25]

The spiritual gifts are one way that the Holy Spirit works among believers to disciple believers. He is continuing the discipling ministry of Christ. One way to discern whether we are getting carried away in our use of spiritual gifts is to ask if what we are manifesting contributes to the discipling of ourselves or other believers. If we are manifesting speaking gifts, do those things we say lead to the edification of others? If we are manifesting serving gifts, do the things we do make the body of Christ stronger, more mature?

One particular example (from 1 Corinthians 14) should be highlighted. Believers in Corinth were coming together in public worship, and some of them were bringing messages in languages that they knew, but others did not. This was called speaking in tongues, because, just as today, the word tongue can mean language.[26] These believers were not rattling on with meaningless sounds. They understood what they were saying. They were using the public worship time to build up themselves, not to build up the church (4). They knew that they were giving thanks to God, but the others around them did not know what they were saying, so they could not join in the worship (16). To the others, it was just an indistinct sound (8) – just speaking into the air (9). So Paul’s advice was simple. If you are going to say something that others cannot understand, interpret it. If you can’t do that, keep your mouth shut!

A principle can be inferred from that example which applies to all instances of charismata. The gifts are not the goal of Christian ministry. They are a means to that goal. If the way that our gifts manifest themselves actually detracts from the ultimate goal of making disciples, something is wrong. There were eras and movements in history when believers so emphasized gifts and giftedness that these became the end in and of itself. Some denominations and groups today are so identified with those eras and movements that what people did then has become a standard for faithfulness to the Holy Spirit.

Paul taught the Corinthians that it is possible to be faithful to what God is doing within you without getting carried away and distracting from discipleship. He taught the Ephesians that the ministry gifts were …

“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”[27]

The discipleship themes of edification, growth, maturity and unity are the ends to which the supernatural ministry gifts are to be manifested. We are to judge our effectiveness in manifesting gifts by how well we and those we minister to measure up to the fullness of Christ.

Spiritual growth and development like that is happening. It is happening among groups and denominations that call themselves “charismatic” and “Pentecostal” and among those who are not comfortable with those labels. The Holy Spirit is at work among believers who dare to let him do what he wants to do in their lives. He wants to transform us.[28] He wants us to dare to set tables for thousands. He still does miracles. If we dare to get involved in the things that he is concerned about, we may see him perform them more often.

[1] John 14:15-17.

[2] Luke 9:1-2.

[3] Luke 10:19.

[4] Acts 4:33.

[5] Isaiah 9:1-2.

[6] John 1:5.

[7] John 3:19.

[8] John 8:12.

[9] 1 Timothy 1:19.

[10] 1 John 2:8.

[11] J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness. (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994), 83. {I inserted the relative pronoun which here, instead of who, not to deny the personality of the Spirit, but for the clause to agree with its referent – illumination}.

[12] 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (see also 1 John 2:20,27).

[13] Luke 6:12-13.

[14] Luke 22:32.

[15] Romans 8:26-27.

[16] John 17:19.

[17] John 7:38-39.

[18] Romans 12:2.

[19] 2 Corinthians 3:18.

[20] Matthew 14:15-16.

[21] 1 Corinthians 5:1-2; 6:9, 16-20.

[22] 1 Corinthians 7. Paul’s advice was to avoid new commitments if at all possible. He wanted believers to submit to the lordship of Christ as they were when they were called to him.

[23] 1 Corinthians 8-11.

[24] 1 Corinthians 12-13.

[25] 1 Corinthians 14.

[26] What was going on in Corinth was not the same thing as the miracle of speaking in “other tongues” at Pentecost (Acts 2:4). One reason many misunderstand the gift is that they are trying to systematize the two incidents.

[27] Ephesians 4:12-16.

[28] Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

The Essentials

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26 NIV).

God supernaturally revealed his truth to us through the scriptures. When we try to understand and explain those scriptures, the results are human doctrines. Doctrines themselves can be divided into two major categories: basic doctrines and distinctive doctrines. Basic doctrines are those truths that almost everyone gets from the Bible as they read it. Most Basic doctrines are taken for granted by every believer, and the Church demonstrates a good deal of unity in its interpretation of them.

Distinctive doctrines are where most of the differences occur. These are generally based on scriptures which are not as clear as the ones the basic doctrines are based on. So, it stands to reason that there will be differences.

I think that there are a few basic doctrines that are so emphasized in scripture, and so important to salvation, that to ignore them is to be unfaithful as a believer and as a church. These are the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg is all of the basic doctrines upon which the church is practically unified. The tip is what must be visible, and what must remain visible. I call this tip of the iceberg the essentials.

Today’s text focuses on some of those essentials. Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans as an introduction to himself and his message, because he planned to go to Rome and minister there. He wanted the Romans to know what he was all about. As a consequence of that desire, Paul did not waste a lot of time on trivial issues in the Epistle, so it is a good place to look for the things he felt were essential to the Christian faith.

Salvation by Grace is taught throughout the scriptures. Noah’s ark was a great symbol of this truth. God looked at a whole world and was justified in destroying it all, but he chose Noah and his family to be rescued from that destruction because of his grace.

Notice with me what Paul says about salvation in today’s text.

The word “salvation” is not found here, but there are a few other words used which clue us in that salvation is what Paul is talking about.

God is righteous, but Paul is not talking about that. He’s talking about righteousness from God, a gift of God’s righteousness imputed to everyone who is in Christ.

This is salvation by grace. It is important because Satan wants to keep people away from accepting Christ by telling them that they are not good enough.

None of us are good enough. If we had to earn our salvation, the ark would have been empty, and the cross would be useless.

Justification is another term for salvation. It is a legal term. It means that God declares us not guilty based on the fact that the penalty for our sin has been paid in full at the cross.

This is salvation by grace.

The term redemption comes from the slave market. A slave could be redeemed for a price, and then his owner could choose to set him free. The slavery we are redeemed from is the sinful nature, which leads to death. The redemption we have in Christ will make it possible for us to have eternal life.

This is salvation by grace.

This term that the NIV translates as sacrifice of atonement is the old word – propitiation. It describes a change in relationship. It was used in the Old Testament for the “mercy seat” where the Israelites sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. When God saw the blood on the mercy seat, he forgave the nation. They would no longer receive his wrath. Jesus’ blood at Calvary has appeased God’s wrath.

This is salvation by grace.

Some people think that Jesus was a great man, like other great men. But if we take the Bible seriously, and accept what Jesus said about himself, we no longer have that option. Jesus said he is the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the father.

Jesus said he was going to die, be raised, ascend to heaven, and then return to reign over the universe eternally. If he was just a great man, then he was a liar. If he believed those things about himself, and they are not true, then he was a lunatic. But if he is what he said he is, and he did what he said he did, and he is going to do what he said he will do, then he is LORD, and should be worshiped as LORD.

Paul explained that Jesus is LORD because God’s righteousness comes through faith in him alone.

He’s not just one of the great men pointing the way to God. He is God’s one and only Son. He is the only one worthy to be called Lord.

Paul explained that Jesus is LORD because he is the only one who can set us free (24). The redemption is in Christ Jesus.

If God had a number of ways of redeeming us, then we could just choose the one that most suited us. But there is only one way out of the slavery of sin.

That’s why Jesus is the only one worthy to be served as Lord

Paul explained that Jesus is LORD because he is God’s only plan for salvation (25-26). God does not have a plan B. God is the one who made up the idea of salvation, so he has the right to set the rules. He is not obligated to accept all those other ways of salvation made up by the various religions of the world.

There are some things that don’t allow options. One plus one always equals two. H2O always equals water. You can’t live without air. God made salvation simple: Jesus is either Lord or he is not. If he is your Lord, you are saved.

If anyone or anything else is lord of your life, you are not saved.

The book of Hebrews calls the elementary Christian doctrine a combination of “repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” (6:1).

These two choices make up what we call conversion. It is the only way to get into the kingdom of God. You have to turn away from your sinful life in the past and trust God for your future.

It doesn’t matter if you are a theologian like Nicodemus, or a tax collector like Zaccheus. We all get into the kingdom the same way: repentance from sin, and faith in Christ’s atonement on the cross.

Notice that Paul said that God’s righteousness is apart from the law(21).

The law was God’s way of telling the Jews how to act so that they brought Glory to him. But it could not save them from their sins: not now, and not even in Old Testament times.

Conversion to Christ is necessary because no-one (not even the Jews) could be saved without it.

Paul says that in God’s sight there is no difference (22). Everyone comes into the family of God by conversion.

There are no spiritual grandchildren. Your parents can give you a lot of things, but they cannot give you a relationship with God.

God shows that he is fair to all now by making faith in Jesus the only means of salvation (26).

Have you made that choice. I made that choice when I was about ten years old in a church much like this one -only down in Florida. I walked down the aisle and I gave my life to Christ.

I realized that I could never be good enough to please God by myself, but Jesus has already done that.

Repent from your sins and trust Jesus as your savior today!

When you get serious and talk to people about God, what is it that shows through? What is the tip of your iceberg?

_______

LORD, help us to focus on the things that really matter.

May we care enough about the bible and truth to have distinctive doctrines and know how to defend them.

But please help us to focus on the essentials that we must teach: things like salvation by grace, the Lordship of Christ, repentance and faith.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.