Working the Work of God

 In John 6, after Jesus had fed the multitudes, the next day the crowd came after Him on foot and in boats, all the way across the sea of Galilee. Jesus rebuked them for following after Him only to have their stomachs filled. Picking up in verse 27 and starting with Jesus, let's look at the interchange that took place at that point. "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father has set His seal." Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He has sent."

The question posed to Jesus was legitimate for the religious environment at that time. Israel was under the influence of the Pharisees who had reduced the Law to a system of works. They had their religious works honed finer than a gnat's eyelash, and were very zealous in the protection and promotion of their system of works righteousness. The whole system was based on works, many of which were mutations of the Law, which led them to a state of spiritual bankruptcy where they were like white washed tombs, clean and pristine on the outside, but full of death and decay on the inside. This is why Christ told the crowd in the Sermon on the Mount that their righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, as it is not the external accomplishment of a set of religious duties, but doing the will of God from the heart that constitutes the work of God. This is what Christ expressed when he told them that the work of God was to believe in the One whom God had sent, Christ Himself.  

What then does it mean to believe in the One whom God has sent? Saving faith has two components, and both are centered in Christ. First there is the belief in the person of Christ, that He is all that the Bible says that He is; and the Bible tells us that He is fully both God and man, the Savior, and the only way to God (in fact, these were things that Christ actually said about Himself).  

The other component or element of saving faith is to believe on the finished work of Christ. This entails believing (accepting and not rejecting) that Christ lived a perfect and sinless life in our stead before God by always doing the will of God, not in a perfunctory way, but from the heart. Read through the gospel of John and see how this is laid out for us to see, and is culminated in John 14:31. This pure sinless life qualified Christ to be the sacrifice for our sins in our stead, a sinless man suffering the eternal wrath of God for all the sins of those who would place their faith in Him as the Savior and believe in the completeness of His sacrifice for those sins. This means that we trust Christ's work and not our own.

You cannot work your way to God, no matter how sincere you are nor how hard you try. The only acceptable work before God is what Christ accomplished by living the life he lived and dying the death that He died. We must accept who He is and trust in what He has done. This is what is behind the exclusivity of the Christian faith. There is only One who lived the sinless life, there is only One who qualified to be the one time for all time sacrifice for sins, and that is the God-man Jesus Christ. Christ is the One whom God sent to be the Savior for all mankind, for all of those who would turn to Him and Him alone to be their Savior.

This is the work of God, my friends, to believe in the One whom God has sent, for on Him God has set His seal of approval for the works He accomplished on behalf of all that will come to Him in repentance and faith. Don't delay any longer, cease from believing that you are good enough to determine your own way into heaven and accept the work that Christ has done on your behalf.

Whose Direction are You Following and Where Does it Lead?

The ancient Greek playwright, Euripides once said, "The wisest men follow their own direction." However the Bible says this in Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25, "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Man's own direction for his life always follows the broad path that leads to destruction, for he always goes astray in his heart.

Our gracious and compassionate God has given man His word, His direction, His way, and His path in the Bible. Hear His word today! Choose God's path today! Heed His call today! Follow His direction today! Forsake your own way and call upon Him while He is near, asking for His direction for your life; and He will have mercy upon you and will direct you to and set you on the path that leads to eternal life.

The path to God is centered in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." We must follow Christ in order to find the path to eternal life; and to follow Christ we must turn from following our own direction for our life (repent), and believe that the direction to God lies solely in Him.

God's direction will always and ultimately lead to eternal life. Forsake setting your own direction, and follow His today!

The Encouraging Mystery of the Gospel

And He was saying, "The kingdom of God

is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;

and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, 

 and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself 

does not know. The soil produces crops by itself;

 first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain 

in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately 

puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Mark 4:26-29

As providence would have it, this section of Scripture comes on the heels of the parable of the four soils in Mark 4:1-20; and I believe it is placed here to be an encouragement for those who are sowing the seed of the gospel. As you might know, the parable of the four soils deals with the sowing of the gospel, with the seeds that are sown being the word of God. It is in only one type of soil that the work of God, the gospel, takes a firm root and bears fruit. The questions that are not answered in this parable are when and how does the gospel actually take root and bear fruit. Is it immediately? Are there certain steps or procedures to be followed? What kind of process is it? How long does it take?

God answers those questions in verses 26-29, and His answer is...just as the process of the seed germinating and sprouting is unseen and unknown to the sower, so is the gospel that takes root and sprouts in the heart of man. The Scriptures don't tell us how and when the Gospel works, they just tell us that it does. When we share the gospel we don't know what kind of heart soil our gospel seed is falling into, nor can we see or understand how it works; but work it does.

There is a parallel here with the explanation Jesus gives to Nicodemus about being born again. We see it in John 3:7-8 when Jesus tells him, "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of God."  The work of God's Spirit and His word is unseen and mysterious, but real and tangible, just like the plant sprouting from the seed and the blowing of the wind; and, like both, is completely out of our hands.

What the Lord is showing us is He is providing the seed for sowing and He is taking care of its results.  We can trust that in His good way and proper time the intended results will happen. Just as God causes the physical seed of the grass to sprout in Psalm 104:7, He causes the spiritual seed to sprout as well, as He is author and giver of all life.

When reading this section in Mark I thought back to a time in Dallas several years ago. My friend Don Conry and I were visiting people who had visited our church. That evening we spent over an hour with one couple sharing the gospel and answering questions. Almost two years later, after a church service, I had a man call my name and run up to me with his wife. It was that couple we had shared the gospel with. He remembered my and Don's name and told me how, after their initial visit to our church, they did not attend church for quite some time, but all during that time they kept thinking about what we had shared with them and explained to them, and finally they surrendered to its truth. He then thanked me, shook my hand, and told me that he and his wife were being baptized that evening.

For those who share the gospel, be encouraged that when you sow the seed of the gospel that God is at work. In ways unseen and mysterious God germinates the seed of His word in the heart of man so that it takes root and bears fruit. The Lord always honors His word and it does not return to Him empty or without accomplishing its purpose.

For those who have heard the gospel, follow the admonition, the call of James 1:21, receive the word that has been sown in you by believing what you have heard concerning your need for salvation and the remedy God has provided for you in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and then follow Him in the obedience of faith.

The Gospel Wound

See now that I, I am He, and 

 there is no God besides Me; 

it is I who put to death and give life.

I have wounded and it is I who heal...

Deuteronomy 32:39

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;

save me and I will be saved,

for You are my praise.

Jeremiah 17:14

For the word of God is living and active

and sharper than any two-edged sword,

and piercing as far as the division of

soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, 

and able to judge the thoughts and 

intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

There is the wound of the gospel. The conviction of sin which breaks the heart and makes the soul contrite. There must be the gospel wound before there can be the healing of the gospel. It is the wound of the sharp two-edged sword of the gospel that cuts into the very heart and soul and mind of man.  

As such, it cannot be and will not be a superficial wound; but it is also never a mortal wound, no matter how deeply it penetrates. Therefore it is a most unusual wound, in that it is the wound which heals. It is the wound which lays bare and then heals the sin sick soul. It is the deep cut which circumcises the heart and makes it new. It is the wound which brings conviction of sin, and the wound which brings one to repentance. It is the wound that causes the blind to see and the deaf to hear. It is the wound which makes man cry out for salvation. It is the wound that renews the mind.

Yes, faithful are the wounds of our covenant friend. So our God, the faithful God, has designed the gospel so as to wound us, and he has also designed that very same gospel so as to heal us. He wounds us, so as to save us. He wounds us, so as to restore us. He wounds us for our good. The same gospel whose blows beat us up is also the same gospel that picks us up. Faithful are the wounds and blows of the gospel, for He has made it so.

To Know Jesus

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life;

no one comes to the Father but through Me.

If you had known Me, you would have known

My Father also; from now on you know Him

and have seen Him."

John 14:6-7

To know Jesus is to know the way to God, for He is the way, the very way to God.

To know Jesus is to know the truth of God, for He is the truth, the very truth of God.

To know Jesus is to know the life of God, for He is the life, the very life of God.

To know Jesus is to know God, for He is God, the very person of God.

"This is eternal life, that they may know You,

the only true God, and Jesus Christ 

whom You have sent."

John 17:3

The Old Gospel, a Gospel Worth Preaching

https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2000/the-old-gospel-and-the-new/

Peace on Earth

These are the lyrics the song in the link is based upon. With the current racial issues in our country, ISIS and Islamic terrorism, Russia-Ukraine...all just this year, may we remember the promise regarding the One whose birth we celebrate this month. "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; ans His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) The peace talked about in this poem, and the peace sung about in this song, is the peace that is promised in this verse, the peace yet to come; but the peace that will come when our Lord, the Prince of Peace, comes back and reigns upon the earth, and His reign will be a reign of peace. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Christmas Bells

I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Peace on earth begins with peace with God.  You can have peace with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Christ God has reconciled the world unto Himself.  Place your trust in what God has done in His Son, and receive your peace with Him.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/12/10/i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day/

The Greatest Message

and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be

proclaimed in His name to all the nations...

Luke 24:47

The most exciting, the most glorious, the most gracious,

the most wonderful message in the world, is that God

forgives sin. And He has provided forgiveness for sin

 for all who call out to Him, by not counting our sins  

against us (II Corinthians 5:19), but by counting

 them against Christ. 

(II Corinthians 5:21, I Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:8)

So today, right now, seek Him while He may be

found, call upon Him while He is near, for He

is gracious, ready to forgive, and will 

abundantly pardon.

And for those of us who have been abundantly

pardoned, let us abundantly rejoice!

The Law, God's Grace in Action

I was listening to a podcast this morning while in my car. The subject of the podcast was the current and reoccurring skirmish over the confusion by some between justification and sanctification, and the proliferation of antinomianism, in particular among the nuevo-reformed. One of the comments during the discussion caught my attention, and it was, "The Law is your enemy until coming to Christ, but your friend afterward, because it condemns before you come to Christ, but comforts afterward."

I want to take issue with that statement, because I think that the Law has always been man's friend, even while still a sinner. Yes, the Law does condemn, but in its condemning the sinner, the sinner understands that he is a sinner, and is thus prepared for the good news of salvation. The Law is of grace, God's grace to the sinner that informs him about his sin and its resultant condemnation. Why is the Law of grace?  Let's consider the reasons why.

1. Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20
2. The work of the Law is written in the heart, which causes the conscience to bear witness and the              thoughts to accuse or defend. Romans 2:15
3. The Law is a tutor which leads us to Christ. Galatians 3:24
4. The Law is good. Romans 7:12-13

Is something that shows you that you are a sinner your enemy? If so, every time we tell someone they are a sinner, and need a savior, we are being their enemy; and nothing could be further from the truth, as telling someone the truth about their spiritual condition is the most loving thing we can do. Yes, the Law is God's holy and righteous standard, and we cannot meet it; but in giving us that standard the Lord has shown us the sin that stands between us and Him so that we don't blithely go along our merry way thinking everything is alright and that we are good people who are deserving of heaven while on our way to eternal destruction. So, yes indeed, the Law is our friend, our great friend and not our enemy, even while it is condemning us.

Another issue while we are on the subject of the Law. There has been an artificial distinction made between Law and Gospel, and how both need to be preached; when in actuality the Law is part of the Gospel, an important part of the Gospel; and the Gospel would not be the Gospel without it. Read I Timothy 1:8-11. So in preaching the Gospel, and sharing the Gospel, don't leave the Law out. In fact, the exclusion of the Law from the Gospel is what leads to a Gospel which is about you, and God giving you a wonderful life. Without the Law there is no need for repentance, and Christ was pretty clear in Mark 1:15 when He said, "Repent and believe in the Gospel." If there is no condemnation for sin, where then is the need to repent? If there is no condemnation for sin, where is the need for a Savior? Without the Law Pelagianism reigns.

For too long the Law has been given a bad rap. It is time for us to thank the Lord for the Law; for its condemnation that led us to salvation, and its comfort now as we see it operative in us. (Jeremiah 31:33) And it is time for us to be sure that we understand that the Law is a most vital part of the Gospel, and to be sure we don't leave it out, and therefore deprive people of a measure of God's saving grace.

Postmodernity Vs the Hope of the Gospel

We live in a postmodern age. Postmodern describes the prevailing secular worldview that dominates and guides man as he lives out his life on this earth. The following is an excerpt from Michael Bird's systematic theology, aptly named Evangelical Theology. This section contrasts postmodernity with Christianity and its gospel proclamation. As you read this keep in mind that Michael lives in Australia. The term eschatological refers to the end times or last things.  All italics are mine for emphasis.

"...Yet postmodernity is really the intensification of Modernity--a hyper-modernity in fact. Postmodernity accentuates the claim that man is the measure of all things, and it allows for the use of religious language with the proviso that the language has no reference to any reality other than the language of the users who utter it. In postmodernity, pluralism is god and diversity is his prophet. 

In the postmodern era, the overarching story is that our world is heading for political, economic, and ecological oblivion. The only way we can save it is through a rescue; we need a savior, a state, who will end discrimination by enforcing diversity, who will deliver our economy by neo-Marxism, and who will rescue our environment with eco-legislation. Then we will have complete equality, true diversity and authentic community. Just read philosophers like Peter Singer, Alain Badiou, or Slavoj Zizek, and you get themes like this coming through. Here religion, as an ideology resistance to hyper-secularism, stands in the way of diversity and eco-responsibility; therefore, it must be exiled out of the public sphere. Sex can be publicized, but religions must be interiorized. Tolerance is not a respect for the beliefs of others; it is the abandonment of beliefs that offend. I suspect that, when all is said and done, the postmodern vision will collapse in on itself in nihilism. Its hope for a global community-in-diversity can only be achieved by forcing faith communities to forfeit their truth claims, to deny the finality of their hopes, and to expunge themselves of anything offensive to others. The irony of postmodernism is that its quest for absolute diversity can only be achieved by crushing dissenters.

In contrast to all this, Christian theology claims that history is about the mission of God working out His purposes.  These purposes were promised to the patriarchs and to Israel, were summed up in Christ, flow into the church, and will climax at the appointed day. We know how the story goes, we know who it is about, and we even know how it all ends--not with a whimper but a new creation. We do not die; rather, we become alive at the great resurrection. Christian eschatology represents a competing story, a story that dares to challenge the dehumanizing ideologies of secularism and nihilism, for it tells us of a world without end, a benevolent Lord, a never-ending peace, and time without tears. What is more, it is a world that has already begun in the context of this world, for that is the eschatological horizon of the gospel.

The gospel constitutes a keyhole through which we glance into God's new world.  This gospel imparts to us a vision of the future by warning us of the final judgment, giving us hope of eternal life, previewing the new creation and resurrection of the dead, and heralding the triumph of God over sin and suffering.The gospel functions much like the program one receives at the beginning of a musical drama.  We learn the characters and the plot, and we are told how the story will dramatically end. We discover also, much to our surprise, that we are characters in the story. The gospel calls us to sing and act amidst the melodies and motifs of God's kingdom and its king.

The eschatological horizon to the gospel is summarily announced to the world in the "gospel/good news of the kingdom" (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 16:16; Acts 8:12). God acts with kingly power to effect His redeeming reign over Israel and finally over all creation.  the kingdom of God is not a single place; rather, it is divine dominion over the entire world. It has two key moments;  a fulfillment of Old Testament promises in the historical mission of Jesus, and a future consummation at the end of the age that inaugurates the coming age. That the kingdom is both "already" and "yet to come" is, in the word Herman Ridderbos, "one of the fundamental presuppostions for understanding the gospel." The gospel thus announces that God's reign is already bursting into our world, and it invites persons to enter into the rule of God for a future consummation of its saving power.....

The gospel is the announcement that God's kingdom is advancing, not in the sphere of human progress, but in the person and work of Jesus Christ and the mission of the church."

Michael Bird
Evangelical Theology
Pages 238-239


My friends, in the end, only one worldview, only one guiding philosophy, can give and sustain hope, and that is the worldview that is centered in Jesus Christ and looks to Christ as its Savior. Don't be without true hope, without the sure confidence for eternity that it brings. Center your world on Christ today!

What the Gospel Offers Us

...to study the God of the gospel--the God who handed over his Son, who raised him up again, and who sent his Spirit into our hearts--is to be propelled toward the study of God's triune being, his divine attributes, his actions of creation and revelation, as well the divine purpose and plan for all things.  In the gospel we do not find a catalogue of human religious sentiments offered up for our perusal, no buffet of philosophical theories for us to snack on.  In the gospel there is no unearthing of relics and ritual to ponder like broken pottery pieces from a dead civilization, nor are we offered merely modern mantras promising nice things for nice people. To do the contrary, the gospel offers us much more, something much better than anyone could envision:  the gospel is the offer of God himself.  For in the gospel, God is the giver and gift all at once, a gift of life and love that comes by sharing in the life and love that is in his Son.  This is the God of the gospel, the God who commands the attention of all of our intellects, the God who pushes the boundaries of our imagination, the God who stimulates our creative energies in art and music and literature, and the only God worth singing and studying about.


Michael F. Bird
Evangelical Theology
Page 91

God and the Gospel

To hold the gospel in contempt is to hold God in contempt. To disdain the gospel is to disdain God. To  reject the gospel is to reject God. For God is the gospel, and the giver of the gospel. He has given the gospel with the command to repent and believe (Mark 1:15). To not believe the gospel is to disdain the gospel, to hold the gospel in contempt, and to reject the gospel; and reveals the heart's attitude toward God.

Understanding Hebrews 6:4-8

When considering a verse or a passage, always remember that context is King, so the verse or passage must always be first looked at within its immediate context, and then the context of the chapter, then book, and, finally, within the scope of all of the Bible.  So to properly understand  Hebrews 6:4-8, we must give consideration to its place in the book of Hebrews.

When we consider the book of Hebrews, we see that it is written to a group of Jews who were being swayed and pressured to leave Christianity and return to Judaism.  So the author of Hebrews states the case for the supremacy of Christ and the New Covenant against Judaism and the Old Covenant.  Along with his laying out the supremacy of Christ we see that he lays out a series of warnings throughout the book that build one upon another as they are given (2:1-3, 3:7-19, 4:1-11, 6:4-8, 10:26-31, 12:15-17, and 12:25-29). These warnings are for those who would reject His word and therefore, reject His Son. 

The book starts out in 1:1-2 by saying that God has spoken, first to the fathers through the prophets, and in these last days in Christ.  So, the first warning, 2:1-3, is to pay attention to the Word that has been spoken, both Old and New Testament, and therefore not neglect (let slide by) the great salvation that has been offered in Christ. The next warning, 3:7-19, is when you hear His voice (through the Scriptures, the Word that has been spoken) don't let your heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, don't have an evil and unbelieving heart, listen to the word and don't be disobedient and therefore unbelieving. The third warning, 4:1-11, is don't fall short of His rest by rejecting His word because your heart is hardened, but receive the Word by faith and don't follow the example of the Jews in the wilderness. The fourth warning, 6:4-8, is more bluntly stated, and it is this:  If you have experienced the work of His Spirit both in person and corporately and have been enlightened (you see the light spiritually and know that it is the truth),    

{This enlightenment comes from:

1. Tasting of the heavenly gift (personal encounter/experience with the convicting work of the Spirit of Truth ie John 16:8). 

2. Having been made partakers of the Holy Spirit (Shared corporate experience of the presence of the Spirit ie I Corinthians 14:24-25).

3. Having tasted (experienced) the word of God, they know it is true as it has spoken to them ie Romans 10:8, Hebrews 4:12.

4. Having tasted the powers of the age to come (know the reality of the resurrection and understand its place as the forerunner and guarantee of our resurrection, our victory over death and Hades in Christ) ie I Corinthians 15:35-57, Hebrews 2:14-15.}

then having this much enlightenment and personal experience with spiritual reality so that you know it is true, don't willingly reject it/turn your back on it (which is what it means to fall away), because if you do, you cannot be renewed to repentance.  This is not deception or ignorance, but a willful rejection, . The fifth warning, 10:26-31,  is once you know the truth, but reject it by willfully continuing in your sin, then nothing but a terrifying judgment awaits in the hands of God (this also ties in and gives commentary on 6:4-8). The sixth warning given, 12:15-17, concerns Esau.  Esau knew the truth, knew his birthright was the Messiah who would come through him as the firstborn to bless the world (See how the gospel was given to Abraham Galatians 3:6-8 and Genesis 12:3. Reiterated in Genesis 22:18.  Given to Isaac in Genesis 26:45, and Jacob in Genesis 28:14), but he rejected it/despised it; and as a result God rejected him and would not grant him repentance even though Esau sought it with tears (ties in with the warnings of 6:4-8 and 10:26-31). The seventh warning, 12:25-29, ties right back with the opening of the book in 1:1-2; and it is don't refuse Him who speaks to you, either through men (prophets and their writings, words of Christ from the apostles) or from God; for you need to consider whom you are dealing with for your eternal destiny, for He is a consuming fire from whom you cannot escape.

It also helps to understand that believing the gospel is a command given by Christ (Mark 1:15).  So not to believe, especially in light of the type of revelation this group had been the recipient of, is very much a willful act of disobedience, a willful hardening of the heart;  and we see the correlation of belief/obedience and unbelief/disobedience in Hebrews 3:18-19, 4:2, 4:6, 4:11, 5:9, 10:36, 13:21, and also in John 3:36.

So in light of all of this we see that Hebrews 6:4-8 fits in with the author’s purpose of warning the Jews not to be disobedient and turn away from Christ, but to continue on in Christ, and to accept Him as the greater, better, and complete way to God. 

A Word of Encouragement for Sunday

As we look forward to Sunday,

let us be prepared with joyful

anticipation as we get to preach

great truths about 

THE GREAT TRUTH,

Jesus Christ, Himself!

As I heard a man once say,

"There may be those who preach

the gospel better, but there are

none who preach a better gospel."

Preach on, brothers, preach on.

The Faith of the Gospel

...standing firm in one spirit, with one mind

striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Philippians 1:27b

The faith of the gospel is:

The body of doctrine we believe.

Jude 1:3, II Peter 3:2, Hebrews 1:1-2, I Corinthians 15:1-8

The salvation that it brings.

I Peter 1:1, Titus 1:1, II Timothy 1:5, Hebrews 2:3, Romans 10:17

The way of life that it produces. 

Acts 6:7, Romans 16:25-26, Philippians 1:27a, Colossians 1:5b-6, I Timothy 6:12

Conduct Yourselves in a Manner Worthy of the Gospel

Only conduct yourselves in a manner

worthy of the gospel of Christ...

Philippians 1:27a

In order for us to conduct ourselves

in a manner worthy of the gospel, it 

is required of us to live up to the

demands of the gospel; and to live 

up to the demands of the gospel, we  

must live out the gospel in our lives.

Christmas and the Incarnation

As we celebrate the incarnation, the appearing of God in the flesh, I thought this quote from Charles Spurgeon would be appropriate, both for its profundity, and its succinctness.  It is taken from Steve Lawson's book The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon page 91.

"He is not humanity deified.

He is not Godhead humanized.

He is God. He is man. He is all

that God is, and all that man is

as God created Him."

And because Jesus Christ is both God and man, He then is solely and uniquely qualified to be the the Savior. The Word became flesh. He was the only begotten God, the Savior born for us in the city of David, Christ the Lord.  So along with the angels let us praise God by saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." (Luke 2:14).  

Let us preach this Savior and His salvation.  Let us tell the world of the appearing of the grace, kindness, and the love of God for mankind in the birth of Christ.  For Christmas is the heart of the gospel message.

Thoughts on the Gospel

The gospel is not a sale to be made,

but a story to be told.

The gospel is not about man making his peace with God,

but about what God has done to reconcile man to Himself.


You don't speak the gospel at people,
but you share the gospel with people.

The gospel is not about what man must do

to come to God, but about what God has done

to bring man to Himself.

The true gospel will always point you
toward Christ and away from yourself.

The gospel presents salvation as the
need, and Christ as the answer.

A Credible Gospel

Does the way we live our lives proclaim

that the gospel makes a difference?  Does

the way we live our lives give credibility

to the gospel?  Does the way we live our

lives give credibility to our confession that

we belong to Jesus Christ?

When the Gospel is Banned from the Church

There are times you want to say things about things that have made an impression on you or affected you or stirred you up. This is one of those times, but it is also one of those times that I know that I won't be able to convey the entirety of what I was thinking and feeling, maybe because I had several thoughts and feelings about what happened.  In the big scheme of things, well, even in the little scheme of things, it probably isn't that big.  But, to me, it is a sign of where we are in our life in the church here in the US; and it bothered me. It made me a little sick at my stomach, it caused me to have an anti-smalzy reaction, made my hypocrite alarm go off, and left me with sense of disgust. And, I'll admit, it played right into my prejudice towards the types of churches I mentioned in this recent post http://morris-pressingon.blogspot.com/2012/08/another-gospel.html

This was brought about when I was recently standing in line at Starbucks.  Our Starbucks is the number two grossing Starbucks in the state of Texas, so you usually have a bit of a wait to make your order.  So as I was waiting in line, a thirty-something year old man came in and queued up behind me.  As we were waiting he made a phone call, and being as close as we were, I could not help but hear some of the conversation.  His tone was fairly crass for most of the conversation, and he used a couple of inappropriate terms that were in step with the tone of the conversation.  I chalked it up to just another person in the world doing what people in the world do.  Well, after I received my order I was talking to a friend of mine, and up walks this same man who was having the conversation.  My friend introduced us, and lo and behold, this man was on staff at one of the local churches that were referenced above.  In fact, he was the staff person in charge of the elementary school age children.  After my friend told him that I was a pastor the tone of his voice changed and he was so sugary that my anti-smalzy alarm went off; I mean it was to the point of being insincere.  You would not have been able to reconcile the person in line behind me with the person I was introduced to.

I wondered if there was any conviction on his part about having two personas, or if he even sees the problem with having two different personas, or if he even is aware that he has two personas.  One, which is obviously the way he normally is, and the other, which is his church staff persona.  Two masks representing two different people.  But, I don't think that those who hold to a Moralistic Therapeutic Deism philosophy (see post referenced above) see any problem with hypocrisy such as this.  They don't make the connection between their profession and their life, in fact they don't see that there should be a connection to what you profess and how you live.  And just to add to this, another man told me of a conversation he recently had with a member of one of the churches I alluded to in the post above.  They were telling him about how they would follow their pastor no matter where he went, and then in the same conversation talked about getting drunk the last weekend and having a hang-over the next day.  Again, seeing no problem with talking about being a church member and drinking so much you feel bad the next day, all in the same conversation.

This bothers me for these people, and reminds me of Titus 1:15-16.  I am concerned for their spiritual state, that they can go to church, or be a staff member at a church, and not see the disconnect between what they say they are and how they live.  I am concerned not only for them, but for others in those churches, and also for the churches themselves.  But you see, when you are preaching messages designed to make people feel better about themselves, or improve their worldly lives, or preaching sermons designed to attract the worldly,  this is a logical result.  And I wish these were isolated incidents, but they are not.

You might say, Morris, we have always had hypocrites in the church and always will.  And I would agree with you, but at the same time, I don't think this type of compartmentalization of the Christian life, this type of disconnect between profession and lifestyle has ever been this rampant and this rife in our churches, nor has it ever been as accepted as normal to the point that most have become oblivious to it, as it is now.

If you never preach and teach on sin, never talk about man's sinfulness then there is never a need for a Savior.  If people do not see their sinfulness, then they won't see the disconnect between their profession and their lifestyle, much less see their need for a Savior.  The true Gospel tells man the truth about his sin, his  separation from God and his alienation from God on account of his sin.  The true Gospel tells man of God's remedy in Christ for his sin and the reconciliation with God that is provided through Christ.  The true Gospel tells man the truth about himself, not so he will feel good about himself, but so he will place his faith in what God has done for him in Christ.  And, actually, nothing should make you feel better than to know the mercy, grace, love, and compassion of God that He bestows upon you in salvation.

Unfortunately, this Gospel, the true Gospel, has been banned from so many churches and replaced with the false gospel of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, the false gospel of self.  Friends, let us make sure the true Gospel is preached in our churches.  Hold fast to the faithful word, do not be ashamed of the Gospel, as it is God's power to save, to heal, to restore, to reconcile, to make holy.  If there will be hypocrites in our churches, let it not be because we have banned the true Gospel.