Faith, Hope, and Love in the Church: Love

Faith, Hope, and Love in the Church

The Direction of Our Love

Colossians 1:4

 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4. since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5. because of the hope laid up for you in heaven…

As we saw in our first look into this section of Scripture, these verses talk about the object of the Colossian’s faith—Christ Jesus, the direction of their love—toward all the saints, and the place of their hope—which is in heaven.  The purpose for Paul writing this epistle, which we see in 4:12 and 2:1-3, and it is so that the Colossians would stand fully assured in their faith.  When working with someone to build up their confidence, you start with commending them on what they are already doing well or right.  We see Paul doing just that in these verses as he commends the Colossians on the exercise of their faith, love, and hope.  We have looked at the object of their faith, Christ Jesus, so now I want to talk about the direction of their love, which is toward all the saints; and as it was for the church at Colossae, it should be for the church today. 

So as we consider the direction of their love and therefore the direction of our love in the church today we want to look at 4 things.

1. What is this love they have?
2. Where does this love originate?
3. Why is this love directed towards the saints?
4. How is this love manifested?

What is this love they have?  Well, the Greek word for love used here is agape.  It is one of the four words the Greeks used for love.  These four words for love are storge, eros, phileo, and agape.  Storge means natural affection, like you would have for a pet, or the natural affection a parent has for their child.  It is not used in the NT except twice in its negative sense in Romans 1:31 and II Timothy 3:3 to describe how far man falls without God.  Eros, is a passionate, sensual, physical love.  It is a love based on infatuation and sensual attraction.  It is often used to describe romantic love.  This is the kind of love we see portrayed in movies, television programs, romance novels, and sung about in our music.  Interestingly, it is never used in the Scriptures.  Then there is phileo, brotherly love.  It is a warm and tender affection.  It can be deep and intense. It is used to describe the love for those near and dear to one’s heart.  It is a love that cherishes. It is a love that is reciprocal in nature and a love that is shared.  It is used throughout the NT.  Finally, there is agape, the predominant word used for love in the NT.  It is a love of the will and the mind.  It is a love of choice and commitment.  It is not devoid of emotion, but overrules and overrides emotion.  It acts in spite of how one feels.  It is a selfless love, an unselfish love, a sacrificial love.  It is not motivated by the self, but by others.  It loves even if the person who is the object of the love is undeserving, unworthy, and unloving in return.  It puts what is best for the other person first and foremost.  It is a love which compels one to action.  In the NT it is used to describe the love of God, the love of Christ, and how we are to love.  This type of love was thought unattainable by the Greeks and is only used in secular Greek writings two or three times.  The picture of love which this word paints for us in the Scriptures is not “being in love” but the act of loving. 

Where does this love originate?  As you can see the Greeks were right in thinking the agape type of love was unattainable, from a human perspective.  The heights this love operates in are unassailable for us mere mortals.  So where do we go to find this love, where are the headwaters of this love?  I John 4:7-8, 16 As we see in these verses, God is love.  Note that it does not say that God has love, or that God is a loving being, but that God is love.  By saying that God is love John is saying that love is intrinsic to who God is, it is part of His nature, and is inseparable from who He is, and, therefore, inseparable from His actions.  It is as much a part of Him as your eye color is of you.  This love that is part and parcel of who God is, is agape.  God is agape.  This love of the will, of choice and commitment, this love that compels to action, this love that is selfless, unselfish, and sacrificial, this love that loves despite the unloveliness of the object loved, that loves despite of its unworthiness, that loves in spite of its hatefulness in return, this love that comes from a predetermined state of mind that exists because it is part of core of His being, this is the love that God is. This is the love that is described in I Corinthians 13 as patient, kind, never jealous, never bragging, never arrogant, never acts unbecomingly, is never self seeking, is not provoked, never takes into account a wrong suffered, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and it never fails.

This is the love that the Colossians had for all the saints, and, as such, this is the love that we are to direct toward all the saints. So how do we get this love?  Let’s look again at I John 4:7.  We are to love (agape) one another, for love (agape) is from God and everyone who loves (agapes) is born of God and knows God.  So we see that agape is from God and only those that are born of God (born again) and know God have this kind of love.  So this love, this agape, is not something that an unregenerate person, an unsaved person, or someone whom the Bible calls the natural man possesses.  This love, agape, is unique to the believer.  Now let’s look at Romans 5:5.  Here we see that the love of God (not just any love, but God’s love, agape) has been poured out within our heart through His Holy Spirit who was given to us.  Poured out is in the perfect tense here, which means that it is a completed event with continuing results or effects.  So we see that God has given us His love, His agape, in our heart through His Holy Spirit who indwells us, and we received this love, all of this love, the minute the Holy Spirit came and took up residence in our heart, and this love never goes away.  Now look at Ephesians 3:17.  This verse tells us that we are rooted and grounded in this love, this agape.  What a beautiful picture these words paint of our secure position in and reservoir of, the love, the agape of God. We are fixed into and draw from the infinite love (agape) of God. This is where this love we are to have for all the saints originates and how we have come to possess it.

Why is this love directed toward the saints?  Most of us who have been Christians for any length of time are familiar with the two greatest commandments in all of Scripture.  The greatest is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind; and the second is like it, it is to love your neighbor as yourself.  We all know that when Jesus came He fulfilled all of the law, so He fulfilled these two commandments.  But what He also did was to raise the bar.  John 13:34-35.  Here Jesus gives a new command, and this command is to love (agapao) one another, which would be fellow believers (the saints), not as ourselves, but as He has loved us.  This is what John is referring back to in I John 4:7 when he says “Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God.”  So we are to have the same love toward all the saints that Christ Jesus has for us.  This is why Paul is commending the Colossian saints, for following the command of Christ to love one another as He has loved us.  According to John 13:35 this love for all the saints will prove to all men that we are His disciples, His followers.  If you think about what we have seen about agape, you can understand how this would be a witness to all men that we are disciples of Christ, His followers; because only Christ or someone who has Christ living within can love like this.  We also see that this is a particular love; it is Christ’s love, and His love for his own, His saints, being lived out through His saints for one another.  This is a powerful witness to all men, both saved and unsaved, of the reality of the power and love of Christ.  And when we follow His command to love one another we prove our love for Him as He said in John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” and we see the saints at Colossae doing just that.  Isn’t it wonderful that the love of Christ has already been poured out within our hearts so that His command to love one another as He has loved us is not burdensome, but a joy.  Christ Jesus wants us to love one another as He loved us. He wants us, His own, to continually share and experience His love for us with and through each other.  Oh, what a glorious thing this ought to be in the church, to never be without the love of Christ.  What a wonderful provision He has given us to never be without His love.  This is the reason behind the gifts and the gifted given to the church in Ephesians chapter 4,  to attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ, and in doing so the church will build itself up in love, agape, Christ’s love.

How is this love manifested?  When something is manifested it means that it is revealed.  As believers we reveal the love of Christ in how we live it out, and from the context here in Colossians it is lived out in relation to other believers.  Let’s look at some practical examples from the Scriptures. 

We are to be angry and yet, not sin.

We are to let no unwholesome word proceed from our mouth, but only that which edifies.

We are to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander be put away from us.

We are to be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other.

We are to bear one another’s burdens.

We are to bear one another’s weaknesses.

We are to be on the alert and pray for one another with all prayer and petition.

We are not to be arrogant toward one another.

We are not to be partial.

We are to treat each other the way we would want to be treated.

We are to please others instead of ourselves.

We are to defer to others by considering one another as more important than ourselves.

We are to do no wrong to one another. 

We are to accept one another.

We are to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.

We are not to be provoked.

We are not to act unbecomingly toward one another.

We are to speak the truth to one another in love

We are to be patient with one another.

We are not to gossip about one another.

We are to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

We are to provide for one another’s needs.

We are to reconcile with one another.

We are to gently restore those who sin. 

We are to be subject to one another.

Our love is to cover a multitude of sins against us and still keep on loving.

No matter how much and how well we love we are to excel still more.

This is the essence of love, God’s own love, Christ’s own love, that has been given to us so it can be given out to our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the love in which we are rooted and by which we are grounded. 

You know, we hear so often today that we are to love ourselves or that we must learn to love ourselves.  This is the mantra behind all the self-help books and seminars, many of the twelve step programs, and unfortunately is what is being taught in so many churches.  This is the eternal lie.  It is what Satan was really telling Eve to do in the garden.  It is what Satan was tempting Christ to do in the wilderness.  Isn’t it interesting that there is no place in Scripture that says God loves Himself.  What Scripture says is that God loves us, that God loves His Son, that God so loved us that He gave His Son, His only Son whom He loved, for us, that we might have eternal life with Him and enjoy His presence forever.  In addition, we are not commanded in Scripture to love ourselves, but to love God, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and to love one another as He has loved us.  In fact, there is no place in the Scriptures where self love is commended or commanded.  The focus of our love is to be on God and therefore on His saints, our brother and sisters in Christ.  My friends don’t fall prey to the siren song of self love, but follow the command of Christ, the example of Christ, to love one another as He has loved us.  Greater love has no man than this than that He would lay down His life for His friends.    My friends, my fellow saints, let us love like this today.

Faith, Hope, and Love in the Church: Faith

Faith, Hope, and Love in the Church

Colossians 1:3-5a

The Object of Our Faith      

1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4. since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5. because of the hope laid up for you in heaven…

Here we see both Paul and Timothy giving thanks for the Colossians in their prayers for them.  Thanksgiving is an exercise that is motivated by joy, it is an expression of joy and here it is expressed to the source of the joy, who is God Himself.  What do we see about the Colossians that would be the occasion of joy and its corresponding thanksgiving by Paul and Timothy?  From the text we see it is their faith, love, and hope, and according to Paul in I Corinthians 13 faith, hope, and love are the three eternal qualities, three divine distinctives, and we see that these three are present and active in the life of the church at Colossae.  It is interesting to note that there is only one other church in the NT that we see mentioned as manifesting all three of these divine qualities and that is the church at Thessalonica.

While both churches are commended for manifesting these qualities, how they manifest them is different.  In Thessalonica they are manifested in the activity of faith, the sacrifice of love, and the steady enduring of hope.  Here in Colossae they are revealed through the object of their faith - Jesus Christ; the direction of their love - toward all the saints; and the place of their hope - which is in heaven.  Let’s consider how these three divine distinctives are lived out in the church at Colossae while remembering that for these qualities to be lived out in the church they must be lived out in the lives of the people in the church.

First, let’s look at the object of our faith—Jesus Christ.

Well, what is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen

Martin Luther describes faith as a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.

The biblical word for faith is pistis, which means a firm persuasion, a strong conviction, a belief in the truth, it is not the outcome of imagination or emotion, but based on fact. It is a strong and welcome conviction that leaves no room for doubt.  It is to be fully and completely persuaded beyond a shadow of any doubt.  Out of this is conviction is born trust and the concept of trusting is implicit in the understanding of what it means to have faith.  In fact, trust is the dynamic component of faith.  Faith then must have a foundation to rest on, an object in which to place its trust.  So for the Christian the object of our faith and the place of our trust is Jesus Christ.

Before we get to the object of our faith, Christ Jesus, it is interesting to note what Paul did not include as the object of our faith.  It is not having faith in our denominational affiliation, our family heritage, or our church membership as that is having faith in the agency of man.  It is not faith in our faith, faith in a prayer we prayed or a decision that we made, because this would be having faith in ourselves.  It is not faith in walking the aisle, faith in our baptism or our tithing, faith in the good things we do, or faith in our obedience as that would be having faith in our works, which, again, is no more than having faith in ourselves. 

Here Paul gives us only one object for our faith to rest upon, one place for our trust, and that is Christ Jesus.  Now, we need to understand there is a dual component to having faith in Christ.  It is having faith in the person of Christ, which is represented by His name and having faith in the work of Christ, which is what He did to accomplish our salvation, and therefore trusting only in all that Christ is and all that He has done in securing your salvation.  Without faith in both the person and work of Christ you do not have a complete faith and a faith that is not complete is not a faith that saves.  Adding anything to this is taking your trust off of Christ and is not saving faith.  It is interesting to note here that all cults or false religions that call themselves Christian be in error either on the person of Christ or the work of Christ.

 

Now let’s look at what is in His name.

Jesus—Jehovah is salvation-God is Salvation-Savior

Christ—Messiah-anointed One-King of Israel, to be anointed was to be appointed or set apart for a specific task or duty.  So in the very name of Christ Himself we see that He was the appointed One, the Holy One Himself, the One set apart to achieve our salvation.

The Person of Christ

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 1: 20-21—the angel appeared to Joseph and said, 21—She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Luke 2:11 (When the angels appeared to the shepherds)  For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

John 1:41—(Andrew) He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (Which translated means Christ).

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 6:69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

John 8:24 …for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

John 10:30  I and the Father are one.

John 20:31—but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

Acts 2:21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Acts 10:43  Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

Acts 22:16  Now why do you delay?  Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.

I Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

Matthew 12:21 And in His name the Gentiles will hope.

Matthew 16:13-16, 13—Who do people say that I am?  15-But who do you say that I am

16—Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (believing in His name means believing He is the Savior)

John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So the question for us today is not any different.  Who do you believe that Christ is, and who do you say that He is?

The Work of Christ

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Romans 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…

I Corinthians 15:3-8, 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what  I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4. and that he was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5-8 then He appeared…

II Corinthians 5:21—He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Hebrews 4:15—For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 7:26-27—For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27.-who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9:11-12—But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12.-and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:12  but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God

Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Hebrews 7:25—Therefore He is able also to save forever those who drew near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 5:9—And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation

Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.----John 17:3 

This is why Romans 8:11 tells us “For the Scripture says, Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Our faith is based on facts, truth, real events that transpired around a real person.  God did not decree that our faith should be based on whims or notions or meditations or fairy tales.  He gave as a real person and a real event for our faith to rest upon. He did not leave it up to each person to find their own path to heaven or to figure out how to have eternal security. God has done everything necessary for our salvation in and through Christ, and that is why it necessary for us to believe in Him and Him alone for our eternal salvation.  Let's look at who the Lord chose to author the New Testament books.

Matthew—eyewitness, an apostle

John—eyewitness, apostle, laid on Jesus bosom at the last supper

Mark—discipled by Peter, an apostle

Luke—traveled with Paul and interviewed eyewitnesses

James—The brother of Jesus

Jude—The brother of Jesus

Paul—Christ appeared to him, went from violent oppressor to passionate follower

Peter—eyewitness, an apostle

I John—what we beheld and our hands handled (statement of the reality of His person)

II Peter—we were eyewitnesses to His majesty (statement of the reality of His deity)

We have the infinite and eternal God who broke into time and space by becoming flesh and blood.  He lived a real life, died a real death, was raised and ascended to heaven—all real events with eyewitnesses.  God did not leave us with fables, or tales, or our own vain imaginings, but a real person and a real work upon which our faith can rest and by which we have a sufficient security for our eternal state. To paraphrase A.W. Pink the work of Christ did not make our salvation possible, it made it certain.  Our task according to John 6:29 is to believe in Christ whom God has sent. 

Jesus Christ was the object of faith for the people in the church as Colossae.  Are you trusting in Jesus Christ, His person and His work, for your eternal security?  Do you believe the words of Scripture to be true?  Is this what your faith rests upon?

What to Understand about Pride

What is important for us to know and understand about pride?  It is the lust of pride can never be satisfied, as no matter how much the ego is stroked, it always hungers for more. Proverbs 16:18 tells us this, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling."  And just in case you think this couldn't happen to you (a prideful thought in itself), remember the words of Paul to the arrogant Corinthians in I Corinthians 10:12-13a, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man." 

We are all pride infested creatures, and pride is a pernicious and many tentacled monster, and its tentacles show up in every area of our life and thoughts.  Beware that you are not seduced, deceived, and taken captive by your pride; for it will eventually make of fool of you.

Corporate Worship: Spirit Led, Truth Driven, and God Revering

There is a tension, even to the point of conflict, between many in the church as to what constitutes proper praise and worship. You could generally divide these folks into two camps, those who follow the regulative principle and those who follow the normative principle. The regulative folks prescribing that God has laid out in Scripture what He requires and will accept in worship, and everything that is not in Scripture is forbidden. The normative folks prescribe that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permissible in worship. The are extremists in both camps from those who will only sing acapella from the Psalter to those who have a solo guitar riff with strobe lights and smoke, singing the Doobie Brothers as part of their worship. You go from the legalists to the libertines with all staunchly defending their position. So how do you determine what is permissible, what is pleasing to God, what brings Him satisfaction?

First, I think we need to take a step back to look at the whole of the landscape to determine what is the proper attitude we should have about this. There is a principle regarding Christian liberty in the practice of our faith in Romans 14:1-15:6, that is summed up in Romans 14:23...and whatever is not from faith is sin. I believe that God gave us this principle because for all of us, our definition of correct, or right, or proper is the way that we would do it. So there is some leeway, some room, and some forbearance to be given to one another in worship styles, music, and methodology. A good example of this is my friend, pastor Andrei, of Vision of Christ Church in Lviv, Ukraine. I preached at his church twice, once for a week on Covenant, and again over a long weekend on The Spiritual Life of the Church. This is a Charismatic church, and they speak in tongues during the prayer time in the service, and I am anything but Charismatic. At the end of my second time with them, as we were having dinner together at his home, Andrei turned to me and asked, "Does it bother you that we speak in tongues?" And I told him no, it did not bother me. To which he replied, "Good, because it doesn't bother us that you don't." So let us not look with contempt at one another, or judge one another because of differences in worship styles or methodology (Romans 14:3).

Secondly, let us acknowledge that there are guidelines for our worship of God, and God has been consistent with those guidelines through the ages. We can find these guidelines summed up in John 4:23-24 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. (Italics mine) So we have defined for us who a true worshiper is, and how a true worshiper worships; and we see that God Himself seeks such people to be His worshipers. So worshiping in spirit and truth is how God wants us to worship and is His parameter of what He considers proper. 

In Isaiah 29:13 God condemns the Israelites for their rote reverence of Him.  They were going through the motions but were devoid of the Spirit.  So even though what they practiced was according to truth, it was spiritually empty.  In Job 42:8 we see that worship which is acceptable to God is based on saying what is true about Him.  So proper worship must be both from and through the Spirit, and must be based upon what is true and right.  There are many hymns and praise songs/choruses that are filled with incorrect theology that do not meet this criteria.

Thirdly, we see another guideline in Leviticus 10:1-4. God only accepts worship that treats Him as holy and honors Him as God.  Worshiping in Spirit and in truth will always approach God as holy and honor Him as God.  Proper worship always pictures God as set apart, as holy, and properly reveres Him as God.  We see how a cavalier attitude and lack of reverence towards God in the Corinthian church led to many being weak, sick, and number of them sleeping (dead).  Yes, I know it was for taking the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner, but the partaking of the Lord's Supper is part of our worship.  This shows us that God is just as serious about being treated as holy and being honored by the church as He was with the Jews in Leviticus 10.  This is what He expects from His people; and it makes me wonder if there are many in the church today who are weak, sick, or even sleeping because they worshiped (approached) God in an unworthy manner.

Fourthly, we see five principles at work in Colossians 3:16.  One, it should be word based.  Two, worship should be participatory.  Three, worship should be more than one dimensional, containing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Four, it should be jointly edifying.  Five, it should be God directed.

On being word based, the word of God is the truth, so if we want to worship God in truth, the foundation of our worship should be His word.  It should dwell richly in us and be sung in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

On being participatory, the pronouns you and your in this verse are plural, so this is something that all that are gathered together should be doing. So it should not be observatory, but participatory.  Any style or methodology of worship that prevents or hinders the joint participation of the gathered believers should be eliminated.  Now this does not rule out solos, etc., but corporate worship is just that, corporate worship; and the style and methodology should promote and encourage corporate participation.

On being more than one dimensional, there is a richness and balance in the types and styles of songs, and this balance should be part of the corporate worship experience.  It will cover all aspects from the richness of deep theology to soul stirring melodies.  It should take us from the depths of love to the heights of joy while covering everything in between. 

On being jointly edifying, as we sing His word together we are teaching and admonishing one another.  There is an edifying power, and edifying effect on each other as we sing together or are sung to by soloists, etc.  The word put to music will not return empty or void, without accomplishing all that God desires, and He desires for us to play our part in the dissemination of His word.

On being God directed, as this is the most important of all the principles.  All worship should be God directed.  It should be about God, focused on God, taking our attention away from ourselves and focusing it on God...His greatness, His majesty, His power, His love, His care, His grace, His provision, His faithfulness, His mercy,  and all that He is and all that He does.  I am reminded of the song, "It Is Well With My Soul", this song is so God focused and was written at a time of great tragedy in the life of the writer.  Much like the Psalms, in the middle of lament the focus is still on the Lord.  Our coming together for worship is a time for us to corporately present ourselves and our sacrifice of praise to God Himself before His throne in midst of what is happening in our life.  It should be a transcendent time in the presence of God for all who are gathered together no matter their circumstances.

We obviously have guidelines, but within the guidelines we have freedom, Spirit directed freedom which will always have the truth for both its anchor and its guide.

Assurance in Light of Grace

For God so loved the world that He

gave His only begotten Son, that

whoever believes in Him shall not

perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

This may well be the most well known verse in all of Scripture (other than, "God helps those who help themselves."...joking here), and it portrays for us the magnificent and magnanimous grace of God; and the gospel of John is chock full of the grace of God. 

One of the ways this grace is presented to us in John is through the use of the word sent.  In John, the word sent is used 40 times concerning Christ so that we would know that it was the Father's will, the Father's initiative, the Father's plan for Christ to come down to earth to deliver men from power of sin and the consequences of its penalty.  The Father's sending of the Son is an act of grace. Grace, that is grace because it was never requested or sought out, but given freely by God to all who would believe. Grace is God's free provision of salvation. God sent His Son, of His own volition, in His own time, and in His own way to be the deliverer for all who would place their faith in Him as their Savior and accept His sacrifice on the cross as their sole means of becoming right with God. It was not Christ on the cross trying to persuade God to pardon us, but God purposefully sending His own Son in the likeness of our sinful flesh to bear His own wrath against the sin of men and women.

Understanding this great grace should also give us great assurance.  Assurance of the love of God for us, assurance of the compassion of God toward us, assurance of the mercy of God bestowed on us, and assurance of the forgiveness of God provided for us. We can rest assured because the Lord has extended the favor of His love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness to us despite us, not because of us.

Our hope of heaven is not grounded in ourselves, but in the grace of God; and so our assurance of our relationship with God and our standing with God is not just for our life here on earth, but ultimately and most importantly for the life that begins after death. This is why Peter could boldly and confidently state that our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and reserved in heaven (I Peter 1:4). The grace that we experience here is only the beginning of the grace that will be lavished upon us for all eternity as Paul states that in the ages to come God will show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).

So let our assurance rest on the grace purposed for us before creation, the grace made available for us today. and the grace to be lavished on us for eternity, all through Jesus Christ. For we have been saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8) What greater assurance could we have.

God and the Humble Person

In chapter two of Philippians we are told that we are to possess a humility of mind, and then we are given the example of the humility possessed by our Savior, Master, and Leader.  The Greek word for humility of mind is tapeinophrosune.  This word means to be lowly or humble.  It is a lowliness of mind, a state of mind that esteems itself small. It is a state of mind that has a correct estimation of itself before God, it is a state of mind that regards itself as insignificant before God and before others. It is modest.  The way it is used in its context here means we are to responsible for our possession of this state of mind.  

Another way for us to paint a picture humility is to understand that it is the polar opposite of pride and arrogance, it is the polar opposite of boasting, it is the polar opposite of selfishness and empty conceit. 

In us getting our mind right, we must understand that pride doesn’t just exalt itself against others, but always and ultimately exalts itself against God as all sin is always against God. In the Scriptures, you never see the term humble used to describe the wicked, but you will always see pride associated with wickedness. Let's look at a couple of verses that reveal to us what God thinks about the pride of man. 

Isaiah 2:12, 17 For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased.  The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of man will be abased; and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

Isaiah 13:11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness of the wicked….

In Proverbs 6:16-19 there are seven things listed that God hates, that are an abomination to Him, and the first on the list is haughty eyes.

What we see from the Scriptures is that God hates pride, but values humility.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O Man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, seek righteousness seek humility.

So let us consider together why the Lord values the humble man so much, and why humility is esteemed in the eyes of God. 


                            The humble person knows his place before God and before men.

  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,

but with humility of mind regard one another

as more important than yourselves.  Do not

merely look out for your own personal interests, 

but also for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them,

"If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all

and servant of all."

Mark 9:35

The Job answered the Lord, and said,

"I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Your can be thwarted.

Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my

eyes see You; Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes."

Job 42:1-6

But now God has placed the members, each one of them,

in the body, just as He desired.

I Corinthians 12:18

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;

Nor do I involve myself in great matters,

Or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child rests against His mother,

My soul is like a weaned child within me.

Psalm 131:1-2

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves 

that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:

"Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee

 and the other a tax collector.  the Pharisee took his stand and

 was praying like this: 'God, I thank You that I'm not like other

people--greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax

collector.  I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get.'

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise

his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest saying, 'God, turn

Your wrath from me--a sinner!'  I tell you, this one went down

to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone

who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles

himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:9-14

 The humble person is reverent

"For My hand made all these things,

Thus, all these things came into being,"

declares, the Lord.

But to this one I will look, to him who

is humble and contrite of spirit,

and who trembles at My word.

Isaiah 66:2

 Tremble, and do not sin;

Meditate in your heart upon

your bed and be still.

Psalm 4:4

But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness

I will enter Your house, at Your holy temple

I will bow in reverence for You.

Psalm 5:7

  and My people who are 

Called by My name humble themselves and

pray and seek My face and turn from their

wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven,

will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

II Chronicles 7:14   

The humble person is teachable

Open my eyes, that I may behold

Wonderful things from Your law.

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,

And I shall observe it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may observe

Your law and keep it with all my heart.

Make me walk in the path of Your

Commandments for I delight in it.

  

Establish Your word to Your servant

As that which produces reverence for You.

You have dealt well with Your servant,

O Lord, according to Your word.

Psalm 119:18, 33-35, 38, 65

The humble person is contrite

"For My hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being,"

declares the Lord.

But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite

of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Isaiah 66:2

Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter 

Be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, 

And He will exalt you.

James 4:9-10

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God

produces a repentance without regret, leading to

salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow,

has produced in you:  what vindication of yourselves, what

indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging

of wrong!  In everything you demonstrated yourselves

innocent in the matter.

II Corinthians 7:10-11

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God,

You will not despise.

Psalm 51:17

The humble person is a worshiper of God

But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness

I will enter Your house, at Your holy temple

I will bow in reverence for You.

Psalm 5:7

For a day in Your courts is better

than a thousand outside.

Psalm 84:10a

"If anyone wishes to come after Me,

he must deny himself, take up his cross

daily, and follow Me."

Luke 9:23

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

Psalm 51:17a

 Come, let us worship and bow down,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Psalm 95:6

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at

His footstool; holy is He.

Psalm 99:5

The humble person is obedient

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also

in Christ Jesus...Being found in appearance as man,

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point

of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5, 8

Submit therefore to God.

James 4:7a

…He became to all who obey Him,

The source of eternal salvation.

Hebrews 7:9

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand

of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.

I Peter 5:6

Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt

offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."

I Samuel 15:22

"Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

Luke 6:46

The humble person is wise

"For My hand made all these things, thus all these

things came into being," declares the Lord.

"But to this one I will look, to him who is humble

and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."

Isaiah 66:2

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7

When pride comes, then comes dishonor,

but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men

but as wise, making the most of your time, because the

days are evil.  So then do not be foolish, but understand

what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:15-17

Who among you is wise and understanding?  Let him

show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness

of wisdom...But the wisdom from above is first pure,

then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and

good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  And the

seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace

by those who make peace.

James 3:13, 17-18

The humble person is empowered

For My hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being, declares the Lord.

But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and

Contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Isaiah 66:2

For thus says the high and exalted One

Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

"I dwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah 57:15

 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says,

"God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

James 4:6

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore,

I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so the the power

of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with

weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions,

with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

II Corinthians 12:9-10

...whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving

by the strength which God supplies...

I Peter 4:11b

...God is opposed to the proud, 

but gives grace to the humble.

For though the Lord is exalted,

yet He regards the lowly, but 

the haughty He knows from afar.

James 4:6, Psalm 138:6

The humble person is blessed

The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord

Are riches, honor and life.

Proverbs 22:4

But the one who looks intently at the perfect law,

 the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having

become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer,

this man will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25

Blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:5

But the humble will inherit the land

And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Psalm 37:11

 The humble person will be exalted

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand

of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.

I Peter 5:6

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, 

And He will exalt you.

James 4:10

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

And he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 14:11

Here are ten things the Bible teaches us about pride and humility:

  1. Pride ultimately exalts itself over God, and humility ultimately makes itself low before God.  

  2. Pride pushes God away, while humility draws near to God.  

  3. Pride depends on itself, while humility depends on God.  

  4. Pride boasts in itself, while humility boasts in God.  

  5. Pride credits itself, while humility credits God. 

  6. Pride follows its own path, while humility follows God's path.  

  7. Pride is self-seeking, while humility is God-seeking.  

  8. Pride always leads to disobedience, while humility always leads to obedience.  

  9. Pride is the opposite of godliness, while humility promotes godliness. 

10. The proud will be destroyed from the earth, while the humble will inherit the earth.

So, my friends, let us follow the admonition of the following verses:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus

Philippians 2:5

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I gentle and

humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:29