Sunday Morning, August 30, 2009: The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness

Matthew 5: 1 – 12

I. Introduction.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —

These are the first three sentences of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. Beautiful and meaningful words to all U.S. citizens. All human beings were created equal. All human beings were created with the same unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

A few years ago (2006), there was a movie with the title “The Pursuit of Happyness.” (It is showing this weekend on cable TV—TNT.) It was the story of a man name Chris Gardner, and how Mr. Gardner pulled himself out of poverty and homelessness to become a self-made, millionaire stock broker. In many ways, Mr. Gardner’s story is the story of the American dream. However, I found the story to be hollow and sad. I walked away from the movie with the impression that money and happiness are synonymous. If you can just make more money, you can achieve happiness. It makes me wonder if this is the kind of “American Dream” our nation’s founders had in mind when they wrote the words, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Many scholars attribute Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence to the philosophical writings of John Locke. Locke’s original words claimed “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” Some even claim that Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration claimed the unalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of property.”

While many Americans might easily substitute the words “happiness” and “property,” I find a significant difference between the two. For example, psychologists from the University of Rochester (New York) recently conducted a survey of their recent graduates. The survey attempted to measure the subjective term “happiness” based on the objective measurement of personal goals. They discovered that a person who has achieved most of their external goals (wealth and fame) we less happy than people who had achieved their internal goals (health and relationships). Perhaps there is a difference between happiness and property.

With all due respect to Thomas Jefferson, I believe that happiness is not a goal to be pursued. Happiness is a byproduct or a result of a certain kind of life. Happiness is an elusive goal: the more you pursue happiness, the less likely you are to obtain it. However, it is possible to obtain happiness. We find happiness when we pursue other things. It is a byproduct. Believe it or not, Jesus taught us about happiness and how it can be found in human life.

Read Matthew 5: 1 – 12.

These words mark the beginning (or introduction) of one of Jesus’ most famous sermons—The Sermon on the Mount. Beginning today, we are going to take a careful look at The Sermon on the Mount and what it has to say to us in the Twenty-First Century.

There are various interpretations of The Sermon on the Mount. Some say that it does not apply to us today, because it only applied to the original twelve disciples. Others say that Jesus taught two levels of commitment: pastors are to follow The Sermon on the Mount, but lay people are exempt. There is even a group of teachers who say The Sermon on the Mount teaches us how to live in the future millennial reign of Jesus but nothing for our world today. I do not believe like this. I believe this is Jesus’ standard for all Christians to live out as long as we are followers of Christ.

II. Matthew 5: 1 – 2…Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

Notice that Matthew 5: 1 tells us Jesus went up on the mountain and began to teach. This is one of nine parallels Matthew draws between Jesus and Moses in Matthew 1 – 4. For Matthew, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messianic hope that God would raise up another prophet “like Moses” (Deuteronomy 18: 15). Therefore, Jesus goes up on the mountain just like Moses. Moses went up on the mountain to receive God’s Law for God’s people. Jesus went up on the mountain to issue a new and proper understanding of God’s Law for God’s people. In this sense, The Sermon on the Mount is not a new Law. It is a radical, new understanding of the Law.

Perhaps you are confused, since I started out talking about happiness. Yet, so far Jesus has said nothing about happiness. He was talking about being “blessed.”

There are some translations of the Bible that actually use the word “happy” to translate the verses we just read. This is because the Greek word in Matthew 5 (makarios) is not the usual Greek word for blessed (eulogia).

This does not mean what we normally assume “Blessed by God” to mean. We usually think “blessed by God” means something similar to Benjamin Franklin’s idea of “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Instead, Jesus was using a common secular term that described a person’s state of being. Again, some Bibles have translated this as “Happy” instead of “Blessed.” The word makarios was used in secular Greek to refer to the kind of life enjoyed by the gods. They lived a care-free life above the day to day concerns of regular people. They did not worry about money, work, sickness or death. It was also used to describe the extremely wealthy, who also lived above the normal cares of life found among the less fortunate. Philosophers used this word to describe those who had achieved “inner joy.”

I believe Jesus was using this term like the philosophers. He illustrates a new kind of life filled with joy and happiness that is only possible in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, it is possible for a person to experience inner peace, joy and happiness regardless of the external circumstances.

The power of Jesus’ words lies in the external circumstances he describes. In other words, the truly blessed people are not the ones who have an easy life. The truly blessed people are the ones who receive their peace and joy and happiness from a completely different source. It is a reversal of traditional human values. The ones Jesus calls “Blessed” are the same ones the world calls “cursed.”

Modern-day Beatitudes:

Jesus said... ... ... The World Says

Poor in Spirit... ... ... Arrogant

Those who mourn... ... ... Those who hide emotions

Meek... ... ... Powerful

Hunger & thirst for Righteousness... ... ... Self-sufficient

Merciful... ... ... Those who do what it takes to succeed

Pure in Heart... ... ... Those who get away with sin

Peacemakers... ... ... Manipulators

Persecuted... ... ... Persecutors.



III. Matthew 5: 3… Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes is different from Luke’s. Luke simply says, “Blessed are the poor.” Matthew says, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” Poor in spirit is a characteristic of those who were poor. Throughout the New Testament, there is an association between poverty and piety. There is nothing inherently spiritual about being poor. However, those who are poor are more likely to recognize their need for God. They have no other recourse than to depend on God. Those who are rich tend to solve, or at least attempt to solve, their own problems with their own resources. Jesus said that those who illustrate this kind of dependent spirit are blessed. True inner peace and joy and happiness comes from allowing God to supply our needs.

IV. Matthew 5: 4… Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

This is ironic to say that those who mourn are experiencing true inner joy. But again, these are the ones who have been taken advantage of by the world and mourn as they wait on God’s provision. Mourning is a sign of brokenness—broken heart, broken relationship or broken dreams. It’s interesting that Jesus does not tell us how we will be comforted. But I think there is an assumption that God will be the source of our comfort. The ones who are truly blessed are the ones who find their comfort in God alone.

V. Matthew 5: 5… Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

There are several ways we can interpret the word “meek.” For example, it may refer to gentleness in our relationships with others. Some interpreters have compared it to a horse that has been broken by its owner, so that its power is harnessed and limited to certain activities. The best way to understand this is to say that to be meek is to be powerless. We can think about earthly power as political power, military power or even physical strength. And Jesus tells us that we are not supposed to use earthly power to accomplish God’s objectives. We are to rely on God’s power. Those who choose not to and exert earthly power or force or influence over others must depend on God to come to their aid. This is the essence of the Kingdom of God: His power over our power.

VI. Matthew 5: 6… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Do you ever watch the TV show “Man vs. Wild?” It is a survival show centered around a man named Bear Grylls. He is dropped by helicopter into some of the most inhospitable, remote areas of the earth and forced to survive for seven days. Whether he is left in the hot, dry desert or in the frozen Arctic, the first thing Bear Grylls does on each show is search for water. That is because the human body cannot satisfy its natural desire and need for water from within itself. Thirst is satisfied only by some external source. Jesus is saying the same thing about righteousness.

The Greek word “Righteousness” can also be translated either “justice” or “righteousness.” In either case, the Beatitude says the same thing. Those who have true inner joy are those who long for either a justice or a righteousness which comes from outside themselves, not from within. This is what it means to be hungry or thirsty. It means that we are lacking something. It means we have a need which cannot be met from within. Just as we must look outside ourselves to satisfy our desire for food and water, so we must look outside ourselves to satisfy our desire for righteousness.

VII. Matthew 5: 7… Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy

This represents a different emphasis. Jesus is now describing the way we treat other people. Those with true inner joy are the ones who show active love toward their neighbors. The biblical idea of mercy is just like the concept of love. Biblical love never refers to romantic feelings, affection or concern. Rather, biblical love is always active, showing mercy to others.

VIII. Matthew 5: 8… Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

This relates the importance of a changed inner person. It is never enough just to be poor, downtrodden or oppressed. Those who have true inner joy have a consistency between doing and being. Also, it picks up on an Old Testament emphasis that sinners cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. Before any of us will ever “see God,” we must be changed on the inside.

IX. Matthew 5: 9… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

This is one of the biggest differences between Christianity and other world religions (Islam in particular). Jesus has never asked his followers to establish his Kingdom on earth through military or political means. Rather those with true inner joy wait on the Lord.

X. Matthew 5: 10… Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

This only applies to those whose suffering is the result of their relationship with God. It is not joyful to be persecuted. However, it is joyful to be persecuted on Jesus’ behalf, for righteousness sake.

XI. Conclusion—Matthew 5: 11 – 12… Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

There are two things I want you to note about these two verses. First, these verses are similar to the previous verses, because they begin with the word “blessed.” Second, these verses are different from the previous verses, because Jesus shifts from the third person to the second person (those who are persecuted becomes “you”). For this reason, I do not believe this is a ninth Beatitude. This is application. Jesus tells us that he was not really talking about other people. He was talking about us!

The Beatitudes serve as a warning and a promise for us, if you become a follower of Jesus you can expect to experience hardships AND blessings. These promised blessings are not a result of hardship. They are the Grace of God. The rest of the sermon is about ethics. But there can never be ethics without Grace. Ethical behavior begins with a relationship with Jesus.

Sunday, August 16, 2009: Eternal Salvation

Eternal Salvation
John 10: 22 – 33

I. Introduction.

Read John 10: 22 – 33.

Most of you will not be surprised to learn that I consider myself a Baptist. After all, I am the pastor of THE First Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas. You probably would not be surprised to learn that I have been a Baptist all my life: Son of a Baptist deacon, baptized as a nine year old in a Friday night Vacation Bible School family night service, educated in a Baptist college and Baptist Seminary. However, you might be surprised that I was 20 years old before I ever learned what Baptists believe.

I left home to go to college when I was 18 years old. At that point in my life, Baptist was all I had ever known. As a college freshman, I started “church shopping.” I went to every different kind of church I could find: Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, United Pentecostal and non-denominational. After a semester of “shopping around,” I came back to a Baptist church. I couldn’t tell you why. All I knew is that it was the most comfortable for me.

Then, I took a Baptist history class as a college senior. This is where I discovered the radical history of Baptists, and where I made the decision that I would always be a Baptist.

Historically, Baptists have been committed to some unpopular theological positions. Four hundred years ago, an Anglican pastor (John Smyth) started preaching his own sermons from the Bible. Neither the Anglican bishop nor the King of England would tell him what to preach. He would read, interpret and preach the Bible. This led to the formation of the first Baptist church. And, Baptist churches today are committed to the Bible as the sole authority for our faith and practice.

Immediately, after reading and preaching the Bible, this group of Baptists refused to practice infant baptism. This was not so much a criticism of the Anglican church. Instead, it was a positive affirmation that every person must make their own personal, profession of faith. The church cannot make a profession of faith for you. Your parents cannot make a profession of faith for you. You must choose for yourself to follow Jesus as the Lord of your life. And, Baptist churches today continue to emphasize individual competency. Every person decides for himself or herself. And, every person will give an account before God.

The first group of Baptists were English speaking people. Just two years after the first Baptist church was formed, a revolutionary thing happened. The King James Version of the Bible was translated and printed in the English language in 1611. As John Smyth began preaching his own sermons from an English Bible, his congregation had access to the Bible like never before. Each man and woman in the church could read the Bible in their own language. Therefore, there was little need for a “priest” to speak God’s word to God’s people. And, Baptist churches today preach the priesthood of all believers. Jesus is the only priest we need. Every person can hear from God through the Bible. Every person can speak to God through prayer.

When John Smyth led his congregation to break away from the Anglican church, the faced political ramifications. The Anglican church was not one of many denomination in England. It was the only church sanctioned by the government. In fact, the Anglican ministers and bishops received their salaries from the taxes of the people—even the people who did not go to church. Thus began the Baptist view that church and state should be separate and paying the preacher should be voluntary. One hundred years later, it was Baptist ministers in Colonial America who influenced the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

These are the historical Baptist views I got excited about when I was in college; and these are the beliefs that continue to motivate me as a pastor. However, these are not the “popular” beliefs most people think of when they hear the word Baptist. Most people think of our strange practice of baptism by immersion. (This is a consequence of our view that every individual is competent to make their own profession of faith.) Other people point to our congregational polity or our many divisions. One of my favorite Baptist jokes is, “where there are two Baptists, there is a committee.” (Both of these developed from our views on soul competency and the priesthood of all believers.) Wikipedia lists 62 Baptist denominations in the United States alone. We believe the Bible, we just can’t agree on what the Bible says!

Another “popular” Baptist belief is the doctrine of eternal security, or in its popular form “once saved, always saved.” I can’t trace the origin of this Baptist view, except to say that it comes from reading the Bible and from a high view of the nature of God himself.

For example, people who affirm the existence of God usually agree about certain characteristics of God. There are some things about God’s nature that are necessary to his nature. The best way I know to think about this is to fill in the blank, “God cannot be God unless he is ______.” Now, what should we place in that blank?

God cannot be God unless he is POWERFUL. If you prefer to use the “omni” words to describe God, then we can replace “powerful” with “omnipotent.” But I believe it suffices to say that God is powerful. God has the power to create everything that exists. God has the power to intervene in the course of human history. Sometimes, God intervenes by using human agents to accomplish God’s purposes on earth. Other times, God intervenes through miracles that defy the natural order. The Bible (and contemporary experience) shows God’s power through both means.

God cannot be God unless he is KNOWING. Again, if you would like to use an “omni” word, we can say that God is “omniscient.” Nothing can surprise God. Neither human faithfulness nor unfaithfulness surprises God. God knows the past, the present and the future. There is a fine line between knowing the future and controlling the future. However, I do not believe “knowing” and “controlling” are necessarily synonymous. God knows the future without determining all the sinful and evil choices humanity will make.

God cannot be God unless he is ETERNAL. Eternal is an impossible word to define. Try as we might, we cannot fully comprehend an eternal existence which has no beginning and no end. Human knowledge is based on human experience. The experience of being human begins with birth and ends with death. There was a time when I did not exist as a human being. There was never a time when God did not exist. There will never be a time in the future when God will not exist. He was; he is; he is to come.

God cannot be God unless he is TRUTHFUL. Another way to describe this is to say that God is faithful. On one hand, God does not lie. On the other hand, God always keeps his promises. In the Old Testament, this was the test of a false prophet. If someone claimed to speak in the name of the LORD, there was a test. Did his words come to pass? The false prophet was the one whose words did not come to pass. The true prophet was truthful 100% of the time. The prophet whose words were not true was executed by stoning. Because God is not correct 99% of the time.

One of the remarkable characteristics of this Scripture is the way Jesus claimed to be God. The Jewish audience considered this blasphemous for a mere human to claim to be equal with God. However, Jesus was not a mere human. Jesus is the “only begotten Son of God.”

Since Jesus claimed to be God, we must choose one of only three options. Is Jesus a Liar, a Lunatic or the Lord?

If we profess Jesus to be Lord, we also profess that Jesus possesses the same characteristics as God. In other words, Jesus is POWERFUL, KNOWING, ETERNAL and TRUTHFUL. We can believe the promises Jesus makes to us, because he is God. He knows what he is talking about; and he has the power to keep the promises he makes.

II. Salvation as Relationship.

Jesus spoke these words to a crowd of people. It is apparent that this crowd can be divided into two groups of people. We can come up with any number of adjectives to describe the two groups—saved and lost; pro Jesus and anti Jesus; believers and unbelievers; insiders and outsiders… Or we could just stick to the language Jesus used: my sheep and not my sheep.

The difference between the two groups of people is their relationship with Jesus. Some of the people were Jesus’ sheep. Others were not Jesus’ sheep. The difference is relationship.
Fortunately for us, Jesus gives us three descriptions for his sheep. We don’t have to guess about who is in and who is out. Jesus tells us. His sheep (1) listen to Jesus’ voice; (2) are known by Jesus; and (3) follow Jesus.

These words come at the conclusion of one of Jesus’ famous sayings: “I am the Good Shepherd.” First, he defined himself as the shepherd. By doing so, he is borrowing from the Old Testament imagery of God as the shepherd of Israel. The classic texts for this idea can be found in Ezekiel 34 and Psalm 23. Then, Jesus defined who can be called Jesus’ sheep. Again, he is borrowing from the Old Testament, but Jesus defines a different group of people. In the Old Testament, God is the shepherd, and the people of Israel are his sheep. Jesus says he is the shepherd, and the people who have a relationship with Jesus are his sheep.

In the ancient world, shepherds were everywhere. Most families kept their own sheep for wool, milk, meat and religious sacrifices. Since every family had sheep, every family needed a shepherd. This responsibility usually fell to the youngest son of the family. It was not a glamorous job. Most young boys were eager for the day they could “graduate” from shepherding responsibilities to participate in their father’s work. Perhaps even Jesus served as the family shepherd until he was old enough to work alongside Joseph in the carpentry shop.

The three characteristics of sheep Jesus cited would have been very familiar to his original audience. Shepherds are not like a Texas cowboy. The cowboy drives the cattle with horses, dogs and physical force. The shepherd simply calls the sheep, and the sheep follow his voice.
Jesus said his sheep listen to his voice and obey his call. This begs the question for us in the Twenty-First Century, “Do we hear the shepherd’s voice?” The Good Shepherd speaks to us today through the Bible and the presence of the Holy Spirit in every believer’s life. However, if our Bibles remain closed, the shepherd is silent.

Also, notice that following the shepherd’s voice is an important part of being one of Jesus’ sheep. Jesus’ sheep do not simply hear him. They hear him and obey. This is a test of faith every one of us ought to take seriously. Being a Christian is not about showing up to church on Sunday mornings or about having been baptized when you were nine years old. Being a Christian is marked by listening and obeying. Not every person is one of Jesus’ sheep. Jesus’ sheep are the ones who have a relationship with Jesus, listen to his voice and follow in obedience.

III. Salvation as Eternal Life.

The hard part of being one of Jesus’ sheep is listening and following. The good part is the promise Jesus made that he gives eternal life to all his sheep. But, when does this eternal life begin? Does Jesus promise us the “hope” of eternal life in the future? Must we wait until after our earthly deaths to experience eternal life? Or does Jesus give us eternal life, which begins today?

On one hand, eternal life may simply be life that never ends. If this is the case, then it cannot begin until we reach heaven. On the other hand, eternal life may be a new kind of life that begins today, having more to do with the quality of life than simply the quantity of life.

John seems to promote eternal life as a new life that begins at the moment of faith.

For example, John 3: 36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

And, John 17: 3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

And, 1 John 5: 11 – 12, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

If eternal life is something that begins at the moment of faith in Jesus, the Son of God, then we must ask, “Can eternal life be lost?” If something can be lost, then it is not eternal. In fact, Jesus emphasized the eternal nature of salvation with a double negative. Literally, Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall NOT NEVER perish…” This is not acceptable in English, but it is an emphatic form in Greek.

IV. Salvation as Grace of God.

Please don’t overlook the fact that eternal life is a “gift” from Jesus to his followers. A gift is not something that can be earned by human effort. Salvation is a gift from God. Another word for this is Grace. None of us have ever deserved God’s Grace or salvation. It is freely offered for us to accept, as a gift.

At this point, the Apostle Paul is our greatest interpreter of Jesus’ words. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2: 8 – 9, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Obviously, salvation cannot be attained by human works. But, there are some who say salvation must be retained by human works. What is the difference? There should be no difference at all. If becoming saved does not depend on me, then remaining saved does not depend on me.

V. Conclusion.

This is the point Jesus makes by describing the way he holds his sheep in his hands. Jesus is both the source for my salvation and the source for my security. Jesus said that my security does not depend on how firmly I can hold onto Jesus. My security depends on how firmly Jesus can hold onto me.

If Jesus and God are one, then Jesus has the power to save. He knows what he is talking about. And, he has the power to keep his promise.

Sunday, August 9, 2009: The Sacred and the Profane

The Sacred and the Profane
2 Kings 16: 1 – 20.

I. Introduction.

Let me tell you something about our church. Most of you already know this, but it is one of those things that is worthwhile for us to remind ourselves as often as possible. Our church believes the Bible. We believe the Bible is inspired by God. Since the Bible is inspired by God, we also believe the Bible is the authority for all of our faith and the practice of our faith.

The word “inspired” is a reference to God’s role in bringing the Bible to us today. In a very literal sense, the word “inspire” means “to breathe in.” I believe this is based on the fact that both the Old Testament word for Spirit (ruach) and the New Testament word for Spirit (pneuma) can be translated “Spirit,” “wind” or “breath.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is the “breath of God.” To say that the Bible is “inspired by God” is the same as saying the Bible is “filled with the breath of God.” This is no ordinary book. This book has been breathed—or spoken—by God.

Allow me to suggest something fairly radical… It is not enough for us to say we believe the Bible. We must also READ the Bible! Of course, it will not do us any good simply to read the Bible. We must practice what the Bible teaches!

Here is the most radical thing I am going to say all day… Don’t try to argue that you believe the Bible unless you are willing to read the Bible and practice what the Bible teaches!

One of my goals in life is to read the Bible through every year. I started doing this eleven or twelve years ago, when I was seriously looking to make the transition from being an associate pastor to being the pastor. I had read the Bible, but I wasn’t very systematic about it. I started to feel like I was reading the same sections of the Bible over and over again. The first two times I read the Bible through in a year, I used The One Year Bible—it is the entire Bible broken up into 365 daily readings from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. Then, I started reading the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation. Now, I keep a checklist in the front of my Bible and mark off the books I have already read.

One of the great lessons I have learned by reading the Bible is that God has not changed. God has always loved human beings and pursued us for a relationship with himself. This relationship is our salvation. There no other way for human beings to be saved apart from a relationship with God.

I’ve also learned that human beings have not changed either. Despite the fact that God has continually pursued us, we persistently resist God’s calling. We are sinners, and we struggle with the trials and temptations that result from our sinful resistance.

So, when we read the Bible, we read stories that are thousands of years old. Yet, these stories are contemporary, because they describe the same trials, temptations and stubbornness we experience in the Twenty-First Century.

Read 2 Kings 16: 1 - 20.

II. Verse 1 – 4.
In this passage, we read about a period in Israel’s history known as “The Divided Kingdom.”…The Northern Kingdom was known as Israel…The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah…
What was the difference between Israel and Judah?…

Judah was the fulfillment of the promise God made to David…There would always be a descendent of David on the Throne.

The kings of Israel, on the other hand, were NOT descendents of David and usually turned the people away from God’s will & way…

Were the kings of Judah always good kings? NO! In fact this is one of those examples…Ahaz led the people of Judah away from following God’s commands.

The biblical author used 3 expressions to capture this…

1. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel…This is a reference to idol worship…Allowing the people to turn away from proper worship to do as the surrounding nations did…

2. He made his son to pass through the fire…Probably a reference to worship of the god Molech…Practiced “child sacrifice.”

3. He sacrificed on the high places…Reference to the many different altars & sanctuaries devoted to false gods…General belief was that the higher the altitude, the closer to god…Therefore altars set up in all high places rather than keeping one in Jerusalem…

III. Verses 5 – 7.
Judah had a problem. The nations of Israel & Aram began to attack Judah…

There is a secondary lesson in this problem… God had originally told King Ahab of Israel to utterly destroy the Arameans…Yet he disobeyed God and allowed the King of Aram to live…Therefore, Israel & Judah both experienced future problems based on Ahab’s disobedience…

We read a longer version of this story in Isaiah 7…Word came to King Ahaz that the Israelite army had camped outside the borders of Judah…This frightened King Ahaz, so he sent for the Prophet Isaiah…Isaiah told the king not to worry, because neither Israel nor Aram would last very much longer…In fact, Isaiah gave Ahaz a sign…Isaiah 7: 14ff, “The young woman will be with child and bear a son, and she shall call his name Immanuel…For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”

But Ahaz refused to listen to the words of Isaiah…In other words, Ahaz refused to listen to the Word of the Lord…

So, he took matters into his own hands and did the unthinkable…He called on the King of Assyria to help Judah…This was unthinkable because Assyria was evil, wicked, vile…The ultimate expression of what it meant to be Pagan in that day…

IV. Verses 8 – 9.
Evidently, the King of Assyria refused to come to the aid of Judah, because Ahaz had to send a bribe to get his help…This Hebrew word does NOT usually mean a “gift” as the NIV translated here…Usually it refers to a “gift” intended to change the outcome of justice…In this case, it was a “bribe” intended to get the King of Assyria to take sides in a matter that did not involve him…

But this was not ordinary “gift” or even an ordinary “bribe.”…Ahaz looted the Temple of God to send a bribe to Tiglath-Pileser…

V. Verses 10 – 12.
Once the bribe had worked and Assyria had defeated the enemies of Judah, King Ahaz traveled to Damascus to thank Tiglath-Pileser…

Once again, we should probably be surprised by Ahaz’ actions…He went into a Pagan Temple to participate in a worship service to another god…Can you imagine the heir of David standing in that worship service? Now, can you imagine his participating in the service?…It’s hard to imagine, but that is exactly what happened…

Not only did Ahaz worship…He ENJOYED the worship so much he thought he might try to imitate it once he returned home…

Ahaz quickly drew a rough sketch of the fancy altar and sent a copy of it to his priest back home…The instructions were to make a replica of this Pagan altar to replace the altar currently in the Temple of the LORD…

Can you imagine the audacity of King Ahaz at this point? He is replacing an Altar that was designed by God himself with a human altar just because it is bigger and fancier.

VI. Conclusion.

Sometimes we read the Bible and find positive examples of how we should worship and serve God. Other times we read the Bible and find negative examples of how we should NOT live our lives. This story is one of those negative examples. It is written for us as a kind of warning… “Do not be like Ahaz.” In other words, Ahaz is a perfect example of how we are not supposed to live and worship God…

The temptations Ahaz faced are not extinct…They surround us even today…Many of us will face these temptations daily…Maybe even when we get home this afternoon…

This story or description about the life and reign of King Ahaz illustrates several dangers we must avoid in our own lives…

A. Becoming Desensitized to Evil…

Cf. earlier kings of Judah…2 Kings 14: 1 – 4; 15: 1 – 4; 15: 32 – 35; 16: 1 – 4…

The only difference between Ahaz and previous kings was that he acted out what earlier kings had allowed the people to do…

There is a danger for us to watch others sin so much that it becomes easier for us to take the next step and join them…Think about your TV and Internet habits as an example. Watching other people commit adultery on TV may or may not be a sin. But, the longer you allow yourself to be exposed to this kind of programming, the more likely you are to cross the line yourself.

B. Entering into Unholy Unions…

Ahaz rejected the Word of the Lord from Isaiah & took matters into his own hands…

We are supposed to have relationships with non-Christians, but these relationships are not supposed to take precedence over our relationship with God. Does your relationship with the world affect your relationship with God? Does your relationship with the world prevent you from reading your Bible? Worshipping God? Growing in your faith?

The union Ahaz made was with the culture of his day…God called his people to be “holy” or set apart… In the same way, Jesus has called us to be holy, set apart, different…This is seen most clearly in the Sermon on Mount…We are supposed to be different from the world, not exactly like the world.

The reason the church is failing in our efforts to penetrate the culture is because the culture has penetrated the church. The reason the church cannot change the world is because the world has changed the church.


C. Using the Holy for Unholy Purposes…Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain…

This is the meaning behind the 3rd commandment…There was little temptation for Israelites to curse or swear using the name of God, because they were afraid to speak his name at all…The temptation was to invoke the name of the LORD to accomplish human, ordinary, profane, unholy purposes. This temptation usually makes me think of politicians in our modern context… Invoking the name of God to accomplish a purely human agenda. This is not a Democrat versus Republican issue. Both political parties are guilty.

This is where we get our concept of something being “profane.” Typically, we only use the word “profane” to refer to profanity, or profane language. The word “profane” can be used either as an adjective or as a verb. As a verb, “profane” refers to taking something that is sacred—or holy—and using it in an unholy manner. Like the Lord’s name. The Lord’s name is holy; and anyone who has used the Lord’s name for ungodly purposes has “profaned” the name of the Lord.

However, language is not the only thing that can be profaned. Anything created by God and given to us for godly purposes can be misused in a profane manner. A good example might be the physical, sexual relationship between a man and a woman. This was created by God to be shared in a marriage relationship. Any sexual activity outside of marriage is profane—or unholy and ungodly.

D. Replacing the Holy with the Unholy…

What are some things we have today that have been “designed by God?”…Bible…Church…Marriage

Any time we take something God designed and use it for ungodly purposes, we have exchanged the holy for the unholy. Our world does not think God’s creations are good enough. The world tries to convince us to replace God’s creations with human things that seem bigger, fancier, more exciting…

Sunday, August 2, 2009: Family of Faith

Family of Faith
Ephesians 4: 1 – 16.

I. Introduction.

I grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi—in the Northeast corner of the state. In 2003, I was pastor of First Baptist Church, Canton, Mississippi—in the central part of Mississippi. As far as I knew, all of my relatives lived in Northeast Mississippi. I had never really thought much about it before.
In 2003, I started visiting a woman in our church in Canton who was in Hospice care. Over the course of our weekly visits, I discovered that her maiden name was Pittman. She started asking about my family. Eventually, we discovered that she was my grandfather’s first cousin. Does that make her my third cousin? Or, my first cousin twice removed?

Then, we moved to Lufkin back in 2006 and met Bruce Bain. One of the first things I told Bruce was that my mother’s family were Bain’s. Bruce had been researching the Bain family for the past several years—even before my family moved to Lufkin. But lately, he has been trying to find a common ancestor between the two of us. (I don’t know if I should be honored or offended that Bruce is looking for our common ancestor. On one hand, he might want to be related to me. On the other hand, he might be trying to make sure we are NOT related.)

About a year ago, Bruce found what might be our common ancestor. (I am confident that I am going to tell this story wrong. I am going to do my best. But, Bruce has all the facts.)

In 1801, Robert Bean moved from North Carolina to Mississippi. He brought his wife and their ten children. When the Bean family settled in Kosciusko, Mississippi, something happened to Robert. The same year Robert Bean arrived in Kosciusko, Mississippi, he died. His wife took eight of the children and returned to North Carolina. Two sons remained in Mississippi, but changed their names from Bean to Bain.

There is a possibility that Robert Bean is the common ancestor for Bruce and me. But, we don’t know why his sons changed their names from Bean to Bain. Bruce thinks it was because they spoke with a thick Scottish accent, or the sons were not literate. I have a more creative imagination…I think Robert Bean was killed in a duel, and his sons that remained in Mississippi were so ashamed that they changed their names.

The moral of the story…Don’t talk about Bruce in front of me. He’s family. And, Bruce…I expect you to defend me too. What does that make us? Something like fifty-second cousins? We could probably get married.

Families usually stick up for each other. Because, blood relations are strong relations. When I do premarital counseling with couples, I always tell the groom-to-be, “It’s OK for her to talk about her father. But, don’t you ever talk about her father.” Then, I tell the bride-to-be, “It’s OK for him to talk about his mother. But, don’t you ever talk about his mother.” Families stick up for each other.

Usually, the family members who have the strongest bond are the ones who grow up in the same household. In a traditional sense, this would be brothers and sisters. Increasingly, this includes step-brothers and sisters as well as cousins, nieces and nephews who live together.

Growing up in the same household usually means there is a close, biological relationship—same mother and father or at least one parent in common. However, growing up in the same household also affords other relational bonds. People from the same household share regular meals together around the same table—and there is something about food that brings people closer together. People from the same household share a family history—it could be a story of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, or a story of living in the same house on the same street for fifty years. People from the same household share the same values—these values might be watching the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving Day or a deep commitment to Jesus Christ.

It’s no wonder why the Apostle Paul used family metaphors to describe the church. No. Church members do not have a biological relationship…Well, Bruce and I have a biological connection. However, all of us share the other relational bonds of a family of faith. We share meals together—the Lord’s Supper, Wednesday night meals, the annual church picnic and other less frequent church fellowships. We share the same history—we were all sinners in need of a savior, then we accepted God’s offer of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We share the same values—Jesus is the only name by which humanity might be saved; the Bible is God’s word to us and the authority for all our faith and values; God has placed us in this church to grow in our faith and to introduce others to Jesus…

The book of Ephesians is a short letter. Yet, it contains an extended description of the church as a family of faith.

In Ephesians 3, Paul described his ministry résumé. He had preached the Gospel and had suffered as a result. He even reminded his readers that he was writing this letter from prison. But, according to Paul’s own testimony, all the sufferings were worthwhile. The Gentiles were responding to the “mystery of Christ.” It was worth it all to witness the number of Gentiles becoming Christians. It was also worth it all to witness another “mystery.” These same Gentiles who placed their faith in Jesus were worshipping and serving alongside Jewish Christians. The Gospel has not been stopped by racial boundaries. In fact, the Gospel has torn down the racial boundaries and created a new “family.” This family consists of men and women who are not related by biology. They are Gentiles and Jews, who are related to one another through faith.

Read Ephesians 4: 1 – 16.

II. What Christians Have in Common.

The heading for this passage in the New International Version reads, “Unity in the Body of Christ.” That is certainly ONE thing Paul communicates in the passage, but it is not all. Paul also emphasizes DIVERSITY in the Body of Christ.

Think of this like a family. Your family members do not always make the best decisions. You may have family members who have fallen into a sinful lifestyle. Some may be “running with the wrong crowd.” You might even have someone in your family who chooses to go to college at Texas A & M. But, they are family, and you “bear with them in love.”

Paul urges individual Christians to adopt certain characteristics that make us different from the rest of the world. Christians are to be humble, gentle and patient in our relationships. This applies to our relationships inside the church and outside the church.

Humility is a characteristic that obviously looks like Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God, yet he never used that to place himself above others. Jesus emptied himself of the glory he deserved in order to touch the untouchables, weep at the grave of a friend, wash his disciples’ feet and to die a horrible death on a Roman cross.

Gentleness can also be attributed to Jesus. I can think of three times when Jesus was angry—in Mark 3: 5, Jesus became angry when the Pharisees tested him by bringing a man with a shriveled hand to him on the Sabbath; in Mark 10: 14, Jesus became indignant when the disciples would not allow the children to come to Jesus; and in Mark 11: 15-16, Jesus angrily drove the money changers out of the Temple. But, in only one of these examples was Jesus harsh.

Jesus was gentle in teaching his obtuse disciples. I’m sure he was frustrated by their lack of understanding…Especially, after the miracles and teachings they witnessed. Yet, they never seemed to grasp the nature of Jesus’ ministry and work of atonement. And, Jesus dealt with them gently.

Jesus was gentle with the sick, the crippled, the dying and the grieving. He was always compassionate in his actions toward suffering humanity. Do we demonstrate the same kind of compassion toward the people of Angelina County who are suffering from grief, sickness, job loss or anything? Do we demonstrate compassion toward our brothers and sisters—the members of our own family of faith?

Jesus was even gentle in his dealings with sinners. This is where we often differ from Jesus. After all, Jesus was perfect. He didn’t struggle with sin like the other people around him. Jesus didn’t lie, steal, gossip or struggle with sexual sin. Yet he always demonstrated gentleness and patience with sinners.

Perhaps this is what Paul was writing about when he used the phrase, “bearing with one another in love.” It’s probably a good thing the translators of the New International Version did not use the word “tolerate.” Toleration means something different in the Twenty-First Century.

Toleration in our world today means to accept both the sin and the sinner. A perfect example is the unrepentant homosexual lifestyle. The world tells us that if someone wants to live an unrepentant homosexual lifestyle, that’s their choice. All I can do is accept the person and his or her choices. That is how the world defines toleration, accepting both the sin and the sinner.

Now, allow me to say at this point that homosexual behavior is clearly defined as a sin in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. However, it is not the “worst sin” in the Bible. It is just another sin, and all sin separates us from God. All sin can be forgiven. All Christians struggle with sin. And this is what makes homosexual behavior different from other sins. When Christians sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. We feel remorse for what we have done. We feel guilty for rebelling against God’s commands. The Holy Spirit leads us to repent—or turn away—from our sins. We cannot be comfortable worshipping God while also cherishing our sins.

I don’t believe the church is supposed to tolerate sin and sinners as the Twenty-First Century world has defined toleration. I believe we are to reject sin and be patient with the sinner…Especially patient with sinners who are broken and repentant.

We can be patient with one another, because we share the same story. Paul does not actually tell our story in this Scripture. Instead, he gives us a list that reminds us of our common story: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God—the Father over all of our family.

III. What Christians Have that Is Different.

Verse 11, is one of three places where Paul lists spiritual gifts. The other two lists are found in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. But, the list here in Ephesians 4: 11 is different. On one hand, this is a list of different gifts—there is only one gift in Ephesians that shows up in Romans and 1 Corinthians. On the other hand, this is a list of people (or at least roles people serve) in the church. We might even say these gifts are the church’s ministers.

I would like to be able to describe distinct differences between these four persons or roles in the church. However, there are too many similarities.

Apostle—comes from the Greek word apostelo, which means “to send.” Therefore, we usually define an apostle as “one who has been sent by God,” usually sent to accomplish a specific task or mission. This specific mission is to share the Gospel with people who have not heard. If Paul was an apostle, then we can say that an apostle preached the Gospel and started churches for the new Christians.

Prophets—closely associated with the Old Testament practice of “speaking God’s word to God’s people.” We normally associate prophecy with predicting future events. However, that was not all the Old Testament prophets did. Actually, all they did was speak God’s word. And God’s word is always true. Therefore, when God spoke about future events, those events always happened the way the prophets said they would. This was not because the prophet could predict the future. This was because the prophet was speaking God’s word, which is always true.

Evangelists—comes from the Greek word euangellion, which means “good news.” Therefore, an evangelist is someone who tells other people the Good News about Jesus. Notice how similar this is to the role of the apostle. Both apostles and evangelists witness to non-Christians with a goal to bring them to accept Jesus’ offer of salvation.

Pastors and teachers—these two words should not be separated into two persons or roles. Grammatically, “teachers” is the only noun in the verse without a definite article. In other words, it reads, “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.” The Greek word we translate “pastor” is the word poimenas, which literally means “shepherd.” By using the word “shepherd,” Paul is implying that the pastor-teacher of the church is to be the leader of the church—just as the shepherd is the leader for the sheep. By using the word “teacher,” Paul is implying that one of the leadership roles the pastor undertakes is teaching the church. Again, notice how similar this is to the role of the prophet. The pastor-teacher has the same responsibility as the prophet—to speak God’s word to God’s people.

While I believe we can make a case that Paul is really only describing two roles in the church (apostle / evangelist and prophet / pastor-teacher), I don’t believe this is the most important part of the verse. The most important part is the purpose for these roles, which is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

IV. Conclusion.

Did you hear what Paul said the ministers are supposed to do? Paul didn’t say, “Call a good pastor and let him do all the work.” Paul didn’t say, “Hire a professional evangelist, so that you don’t have to witness to your friends and family.” No. Paul said the pastors and evangelists are supposed to equip God’s people in order to do the work of the church together. He repeats this same idea at the end of the passage.

Read Ephesians 4: 15 – 16…

Again, the church is like a family. We might have individual chores and responsibilities within the family. BUT, the family needs all members to work together. No one person makes up the whole family. Each person has a job to perform.