"Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." John 6:1-6 ESV
In my 38 years of being a Christian I have come more and more to see how to see life through God’s lens of eternity necessitates becoming comfortable with paradox. Webster defines a paradox as "a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true." G. K. Chesterton gave this magnificent definition of a paradox: “a paradox is truth standing on its head shouting for attention."
In my mind's eye I see truths lined up like ridiculous people on their heads, feet waving in the air, calling, "Hey, look at me! Up is down! Down is up! Think about it." Paradox is a powerful vehicle for truth, because it makes people think. Have you ever thought about how often the teachings of Jesus and scriptures are laden with paradox? He said things like: “We gain life by losing life; we live by dying; we receive by giving; we become great by becoming least; our weakness is our strength; we rule by serving; the empty are full, the sad are the happy; the slave is free, the cursed are blessed, and that death brings life. All these statements which first strike the ear as contradictory become increasingly true to us as we meditate on them.
Jesus rules in an “upside down kingdom.” He brings a way of life that seems upside down in contrast with the world’s view of life. “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15). Jesus offers us an “Upside Down Kingdom” in John 11:1-6. In reality Jesus kingdom is right side up for if God is God and God is our life and His life is THE life and therefore, our life; than upside down is right side up and right side up is upside down!
In the first six verses of John 11 we hear Jesus define for us what love really looks like as he responds to the illness and death of His friend Lazarus.
Mary and Martha, his friends from Bethany near Jerusalem, sent word to Jesus of a medical emergency and that their brother Lazarus was very sick. But Jesus responds by saying in verse 4,
‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’”
Notice that the first thing Jesus does when he hears the news of Lazarus’ illness is put it in relation to the glory of God and his own glory. If you do not understand what the glory of God means, I strongly urge you to prayerfully and reflectively read the six blogs that I wrote last year titled "The glory of God for Dummies Like Me: A Primer". It will really help you to understand it's supreme worth and central importance in your understanding of God and life. Here is the link:
http://robbyman.blogspot.com/2011/06/glory-of-god-for-dummies-like-me-primer.html
Jonathan Edwards helps us to understand the magnificence of this statement by writing,
"All that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God's works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God..."
Then John underlines for the third time the love that Jesus has for this family. Verse 5: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” John really wants us to see this and feel this. Three times he says it: Verse 2: This is the woman who anointed Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. Verse 3: “The one whom you love is ill.” You love him! Verse 5: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
So with all the emphasis upon the love Jesus has for these three, John knows that what he is about to say in verse 6 goes against all ordinary human experience and reveals God's upside down kingdom in the most radical way.
"So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
How does that hit you dear reader? We must pay very, very careful attention to what Jesus says and does here. The key word that unlocks the shocking words that He says is the word “so” at the beginning of verse 6. It means “therefore.” So verses 5 and 6 read like this: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So [therefore], when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was."
You would think that because of this deep friendship and love that Jesus would get there as fast as He could. It's a tough thing to believe that Jesus deliberately waited. We are so used to critical illness being a signal for immediate action -- mourning sirens, flashing red lights, get him to the hospital, that it seems incredible that Jesus, knowing that his dear friend was ill, or in this case dead, nevertheless stayed right where he was for two more days. Jesus knew what this would mean, this delay. It would mean the certainty of Lazarus’ death. We know this because of verse 14. When Jesus decides to go to Bethany he knows Lazarus is dead: “Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died’.” Jesus did not go as asked. He stayed. And Lazarus died.
Perhaps, now we are prepared to see and feel the main point. Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus so much that He stayed away! It was love that moved Jesus to let Lazarus die.
How can we come to understand and believe that Jesus loves us? If you have or are experiencing God's delay, pay close attention. For in writing I believe that John intends, and Jesus intends, for everyone seeing this to ask: How is that love? John has gone out of his way to set this up. Shockingly, Jesus calls this behavior of his love. John 11 elevates our perspective. It explains to His beloved, waiting, praying, struggling, and suffering children that no matter what they appear, Christ's delays are the delays of love. Jesus loves them. He loves them. He loves them. Therefore, he does not heal him but lets him die.
That is the tough thing to handle. When you have gone to God for help which you feel you desperately need, your heart is breaking over something and you need God to intervene, but nothing happens, the heavens are silent, there is no word at all, that is what is tough. Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to me several times. When that does happen, we always interpret God's delays as God's denials. We say, "He didn't answer my prayer. Prayer doesn't work. What's the use? I've tried it. It doesn't work." This is the usual reaction. But what this is telling us is that a delay in answer like that is not a sign of God's indifference or his failure to hear. It is a sign of his love.
Remember what Jesus said in verse 4: “This illness does not lead to death [in other words, the point is not death]. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” This illness will turn out for the glory of God, and the glory of the Son of God. It will make Jesus look amazing. God's delays are always purposeful. Therefore (verse 6) love lets him die.
So what is love? What does it mean to be loved by Jesus? Love means giving us what we need most, and what we need most is not healing, but a full and endless experience of the glory of God. Love means giving us what will bring us the fullest and longest joy. And what is that? What will give you full and eternal joy? The answer of this text is clear: a revelation to your soul of the glory of God, seeing and admiring and marveling at and savoring the glory God in Jesus Christ.
Look at the way Jesus says it in verses 14–15: “Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.’” The human counterpart to the revelation of God’s glory is believing. Believing is coming to Jesus to be satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. And we come to him that way only when we see His glory, "we beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
These are the two great purposes of all things:
1. God’s demonstration of his glory in Christ
2. Human beings treasuring that glory above all things.
That is the meaning of life and of all creation. And these two great purposes are really one: Because our treasuring God’s glory above all things, even life itself, is the way we join God in demonstrating His glory. As John Piper says, God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him.
So Jesus lets Lazarus die to show the glory of God and to intensify the faith of his disciples and the main point is: This is love.
The aim of Jesus' love is to bring people to the fullest knowledge and the fullest enjoyment of the glory of God. Jesus didn’t just let Lazarus die for this. He died for this. “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus prayed that on the other side of his death his redeemed people would see his glory: “I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24).
So what is love? Love is the longing that labors and suffers to enthrall others with what is infinitely and eternally satisfying: the glory of God. AMEN!
Pastor Bill
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
SONSHIP
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." 1 John 3:1-3 ESV
My last name is Robison. My father is Col. Don Robison. I come from a family that has fought in every war Americans have fought in from Vietnam all the way back to the French and Indian wars. Not only that, I have a distant Aunt in Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington, and a distant cousin George Washington. When it comes to earthly family stock, I have a lot to be proud of but it is nothing compared to the family of God that I have been brought into through the blood of Jesus.
Except for the demonstration of God's love on the cross of Calvary, in my opinion the most marvelous proof of God's love for you and me is this: Adoption into Sonship. The right and privilege and authority and the transformation that has been given to us to become the children of God.
John’s epistle has been called the “love” epistle. He mentions love and god’s love throughout the book. As he thinks about God’s love he reflects upon the fatherhood of God and our love relationship with Him as Sons. John gives us four wonderful truths in our text.
1. Because God loves us as Sons we have identity "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God"... (Verse 1a )
John writes in other translations “behold what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us”. John invites us to look at the Father's love and to be staggered, amazed, and astonished by it; the depth, the quality, and the commitment of His heart. When we observe the apostle John's word our text the tone of John's words virtually bristle with urgency and excitement. "Come quickly and see! Look! Listen! You can't imagine what I have to tell you!" I like that. Here's an elderly man nearing the end of life who still gets excited about the love of God. Why? Because John knew that God's love has bestowed on us the greatest of all blessings: Sonship. Here is the measure of God's love. Here is the test of how deeply He treasures us.
The astonishing thing is not just the fact that God loves us, but how God loves us. The Greek word here “potapen” originally meant “of what country or race”. It is an exclamation of surprise or astonishment. What kind of country is this that is represented by a love like this? It is so strange, so otherworldly, so divine that it makes us children of God. It’s a strange kind of love, a love that we’re not accustomed to on this earth. What kind of love is it? The supernatural, heavenly, infinite, divine, holy love of the Father. John purposely uses words to help us to see the way we can approach God.
Notice John says that this love has not just been shown us, revealed to us, spoken about to us though He has done all of that but even more- He has lavished His love upon us!(Romans 5:5) What does this love do? He lavishes love on Sons! He calls us children of God. We have a new relationship with God in terms of intimate Sonship. Who am I? That’s a question we all ask at one time. Who determines who I am-parents, friends, others, society, myself? Am I what I do? Am I my relationships? Am I what I own? Am I how I look? Am I what you determine me to be? What happens when lose everything that once gave us identity in this world as has happened to me. God says "you are a child of God". We are to be called “children, beloved children of God! Oh how John wants us to let God redefine us!
2. Because God loves us as Sons we have potential "and so we are. "(Verse 1b )
We have new status and we have new life. “That is what we are!” (NIV) We aren’t hoping to be or expecting to be. We are! Paul speaks often of this as well. For example in Romans 8:15-17, "for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ"
In Hebrew culture the testimony of two witnesses was given to establish a truth, we have just that. Paul says, both our innermost being and the Holy Spirit (Called the Spirit of Sonship.
When you become a child of God you become an heir of all that God owns. All that belongs to God is your inheritance. (Read 2 Peter 1) In the resurrection everything that exists will be yours. And God will care for you for ever and make you infinitely happy in his presence. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of adoption. Being a child of God, therefore, is not a universal status everyone attains by natural birth. It is rather a supernatural gift one receives by believing in Jesus. Adoption is wholly and utterly an act of God's spontaneous and uncoerced love.
My heart breaks each time I see or read about the orphans in such lands as Sudan and Bosnia. Political oppression has taken its toll on countless little children who have been cruelly abandoned. They are alone, discarded, often diseased and deformed, helpless, and without hope. It isn't a pretty picture. It's just as ugly when looked at spiritually. For we are all born spiritual orphans. Apart from Jesus Christ we too are abandoned and stricken with a fatal disease called sin. We have no family, no father, and no future. Here is where God's incalculable love makes its appearance.
Today when a childless couple visits an orphanage with a view to adopting, they invariably base their choice on physical beauty and intellectual skills. Rarely does one hear of a child with Downs’s syndrome being adopted. Rarely does the orphan with physical defects go home with new parents. Prospective parents want to know about a child's natural father and mother. Was this child the product of rape? What is his ethnic origin? Did she come from "good stock?" What is his IQ?
God's choice of us is utterly and eternally different. He didn’t make us His children because we were prettier than others. Divine adoption isn't concerned with physical health or financial wealth or potential or one's past history. God loves the unlovely and unappealing. God loves because God loves. That is why you are His child. Because He loves you. But God does. The love that John has in view here in 1 John 3:1 is not the love that merely takes care of paper work and adopts. That would be amazing beyond words -- to be adopted into God’s family. And Paul does describe it this way. But John sees more. John 1:12-13, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
John goes to great lengths to insist that entrance into God's family is on a different plane from entrance into one's earthly family. The biblical doctrine of adoption makes sense only when we remember that we are not God's natural children. It is true that God is the Father of all men and women insofar as He is the Creator. But many such "children" of God will spend an eternity in hell. One does not become a spiritual child of God by being born, but by being born again. Let me explain.
God does not adopt. He moves in, by his Spirit, his seed, John calls it, and imparts something of himself to us, so that we take on a family resemblance. If you are a child of God you are so by adoption, yes, and by more than adoption, by new birth.
3. Because God loves us as Sons we have destiny "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (Verse 2)
John reaffirms what he said in verse 1 “We are”, not shall be.These are the facts. Conduct does not determine relationship. You either are a child of God or you are not. Relationship is something that is fixed and remains. We shall never be more the children of God than we already are now. When once you understand adoption, your heart will cry the same."' It isn't make-believe. It is more real than you can ever imagine. To every soul that doubts, to every heart that wonders if it's only a name, a label, with no substance, John reassuringly declares, "And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:2). It's fact. It's truth. It's reality.
But all that this means is still unsure to us. It’s only the tip of the iceberg of what is in store for us in the future. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:9, " However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
There are three certainties about our destiny:
A. We know that He will appear
B. We know that we will be like Him
C. We shall see Him as He is Nothing shall interfere with the Father’s purpose for us. We have so much to look forward to!
4. Because God loves us as Sons we have hope "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (Verse 3 )
What is the impact of all this on our life today? John spells it out in simple terms. Hope is the guaranteed expectation for all of God’s sons and daughters enabling them to look forward to the future with joy in the present. Objectively,whether we believe it or not, it is based upon God’s divinely guaranteed promise. Subjectively, it means the activity or habit of looking forward to the day of what has been promised becoming ours in actual enjoyment. It is very different than optimism. Why? John tells us that because of Sonship we never are beyond hope! Hope purifies our purpose. Hope tells us that the best is yet to be. Where there is hope for the future, there is power in the present.” Romans 15:13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Only where there is hope is there life! Hope generates energy, enthusiasm, and excitement.
So, how great is the Father’s love for you? That you should be called a child of God! I have identity, I have potential, I have destiny, and I have hope! May this truth help you to be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height...to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19) and “to be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians. 5:1)
Basking in Sonship,
Pastor Bill
My last name is Robison. My father is Col. Don Robison. I come from a family that has fought in every war Americans have fought in from Vietnam all the way back to the French and Indian wars. Not only that, I have a distant Aunt in Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington, and a distant cousin George Washington. When it comes to earthly family stock, I have a lot to be proud of but it is nothing compared to the family of God that I have been brought into through the blood of Jesus.
Except for the demonstration of God's love on the cross of Calvary, in my opinion the most marvelous proof of God's love for you and me is this: Adoption into Sonship. The right and privilege and authority and the transformation that has been given to us to become the children of God.
John’s epistle has been called the “love” epistle. He mentions love and god’s love throughout the book. As he thinks about God’s love he reflects upon the fatherhood of God and our love relationship with Him as Sons. John gives us four wonderful truths in our text.
1. Because God loves us as Sons we have identity "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God"... (Verse 1a )
John writes in other translations “behold what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us”. John invites us to look at the Father's love and to be staggered, amazed, and astonished by it; the depth, the quality, and the commitment of His heart. When we observe the apostle John's word our text the tone of John's words virtually bristle with urgency and excitement. "Come quickly and see! Look! Listen! You can't imagine what I have to tell you!" I like that. Here's an elderly man nearing the end of life who still gets excited about the love of God. Why? Because John knew that God's love has bestowed on us the greatest of all blessings: Sonship. Here is the measure of God's love. Here is the test of how deeply He treasures us.
The astonishing thing is not just the fact that God loves us, but how God loves us. The Greek word here “potapen” originally meant “of what country or race”. It is an exclamation of surprise or astonishment. What kind of country is this that is represented by a love like this? It is so strange, so otherworldly, so divine that it makes us children of God. It’s a strange kind of love, a love that we’re not accustomed to on this earth. What kind of love is it? The supernatural, heavenly, infinite, divine, holy love of the Father. John purposely uses words to help us to see the way we can approach God.
Notice John says that this love has not just been shown us, revealed to us, spoken about to us though He has done all of that but even more- He has lavished His love upon us!(Romans 5:5) What does this love do? He lavishes love on Sons! He calls us children of God. We have a new relationship with God in terms of intimate Sonship. Who am I? That’s a question we all ask at one time. Who determines who I am-parents, friends, others, society, myself? Am I what I do? Am I my relationships? Am I what I own? Am I how I look? Am I what you determine me to be? What happens when lose everything that once gave us identity in this world as has happened to me. God says "you are a child of God". We are to be called “children, beloved children of God! Oh how John wants us to let God redefine us!
2. Because God loves us as Sons we have potential "and so we are. "(Verse 1b )
We have new status and we have new life. “That is what we are!” (NIV) We aren’t hoping to be or expecting to be. We are! Paul speaks often of this as well. For example in Romans 8:15-17, "for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ"
In Hebrew culture the testimony of two witnesses was given to establish a truth, we have just that. Paul says, both our innermost being and the Holy Spirit (Called the Spirit of Sonship.
When you become a child of God you become an heir of all that God owns. All that belongs to God is your inheritance. (Read 2 Peter 1) In the resurrection everything that exists will be yours. And God will care for you for ever and make you infinitely happy in his presence. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of adoption. Being a child of God, therefore, is not a universal status everyone attains by natural birth. It is rather a supernatural gift one receives by believing in Jesus. Adoption is wholly and utterly an act of God's spontaneous and uncoerced love.
My heart breaks each time I see or read about the orphans in such lands as Sudan and Bosnia. Political oppression has taken its toll on countless little children who have been cruelly abandoned. They are alone, discarded, often diseased and deformed, helpless, and without hope. It isn't a pretty picture. It's just as ugly when looked at spiritually. For we are all born spiritual orphans. Apart from Jesus Christ we too are abandoned and stricken with a fatal disease called sin. We have no family, no father, and no future. Here is where God's incalculable love makes its appearance.
Today when a childless couple visits an orphanage with a view to adopting, they invariably base their choice on physical beauty and intellectual skills. Rarely does one hear of a child with Downs’s syndrome being adopted. Rarely does the orphan with physical defects go home with new parents. Prospective parents want to know about a child's natural father and mother. Was this child the product of rape? What is his ethnic origin? Did she come from "good stock?" What is his IQ?
God's choice of us is utterly and eternally different. He didn’t make us His children because we were prettier than others. Divine adoption isn't concerned with physical health or financial wealth or potential or one's past history. God loves the unlovely and unappealing. God loves because God loves. That is why you are His child. Because He loves you. But God does. The love that John has in view here in 1 John 3:1 is not the love that merely takes care of paper work and adopts. That would be amazing beyond words -- to be adopted into God’s family. And Paul does describe it this way. But John sees more. John 1:12-13, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
John goes to great lengths to insist that entrance into God's family is on a different plane from entrance into one's earthly family. The biblical doctrine of adoption makes sense only when we remember that we are not God's natural children. It is true that God is the Father of all men and women insofar as He is the Creator. But many such "children" of God will spend an eternity in hell. One does not become a spiritual child of God by being born, but by being born again. Let me explain.
God does not adopt. He moves in, by his Spirit, his seed, John calls it, and imparts something of himself to us, so that we take on a family resemblance. If you are a child of God you are so by adoption, yes, and by more than adoption, by new birth.
3. Because God loves us as Sons we have destiny "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (Verse 2)
John reaffirms what he said in verse 1 “We are”, not shall be.These are the facts. Conduct does not determine relationship. You either are a child of God or you are not. Relationship is something that is fixed and remains. We shall never be more the children of God than we already are now. When once you understand adoption, your heart will cry the same."' It isn't make-believe. It is more real than you can ever imagine. To every soul that doubts, to every heart that wonders if it's only a name, a label, with no substance, John reassuringly declares, "And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:2). It's fact. It's truth. It's reality.
But all that this means is still unsure to us. It’s only the tip of the iceberg of what is in store for us in the future. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:9, " However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
There are three certainties about our destiny:
A. We know that He will appear
B. We know that we will be like Him
C. We shall see Him as He is Nothing shall interfere with the Father’s purpose for us. We have so much to look forward to!
4. Because God loves us as Sons we have hope "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (Verse 3 )
What is the impact of all this on our life today? John spells it out in simple terms. Hope is the guaranteed expectation for all of God’s sons and daughters enabling them to look forward to the future with joy in the present. Objectively,whether we believe it or not, it is based upon God’s divinely guaranteed promise. Subjectively, it means the activity or habit of looking forward to the day of what has been promised becoming ours in actual enjoyment. It is very different than optimism. Why? John tells us that because of Sonship we never are beyond hope! Hope purifies our purpose. Hope tells us that the best is yet to be. Where there is hope for the future, there is power in the present.” Romans 15:13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Only where there is hope is there life! Hope generates energy, enthusiasm, and excitement.
So, how great is the Father’s love for you? That you should be called a child of God! I have identity, I have potential, I have destiny, and I have hope! May this truth help you to be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height...to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19) and “to be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians. 5:1)
Basking in Sonship,
Pastor Bill
Friday, September 7, 2012
NEVER GIVE UP!
(Thanks to John Bloom from whom some of the material in this blog was taken)
Sir Winston Churchill the great Prime Minister of Great Britain returned to Eton on October 29, 1941, the scene of his childhood education. By the time Churchill returned to Eton, his fame as a speaker was already well known to every British schoolboy. The moment was at hand to hear the great man display his oratory. The assembly was hushed as Churchill approached the podium. He grasped the lectern and thrust out his chin in bulldog ferocity and said, "Never give up, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty-never give up except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, never, never give up. “Then he sat down. With one sentence he electrified his audience. One wonders how many times in how many young men's secret thoughts those words came back in a moment of crisis, a moment when the fearful totter between fight or flight.
Never give up! This is a message echoed again and a gain in the word of God. I have a goal, and it is not hidden. I long to endure to the end for the glory of Christ, and I want to help others do the same. Some days this past year, I have felt so weak, emotionally fragile, tired, and ready to give up. but I believe with all my heart that God has ordained and it is His plan for God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated saints who will endure to the end. I feel the earnest longing that you and I will stay true to Jesus throughout our whole life.
One of the great themes of the Bible could be summed up in the words "You have need of endurance" (Hebrews 10:36).' John puts it this way, "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints" (Revelation 14:12). It is not a small consideration, since Jesus said, "The one who endures to the end will be saved' (Matthew 24:13). Notice that our Lord says, “To the end." The whole idea is finishing the course. You can run for five or ten or fifteen miles in a marathon; but if you don’t run the full twenty six miles and 385 yards, you didn’t finish the course. The race must be run to the end.
But we all long for rest and refreshment. That’s a God-given longing that he promises to fulfill: “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish” (Jeremiah 31:25). And in a very real way Jesus gives rest to “all who labor and are heavy laden” and come to him (Matthew 11:28). But in this age, it is not the complete rest.
We are blessed that in this age, Jesus grants us the gospel rest of ceasing the impossible labor of attempting to save ourselves from our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21) or to earn his love and approval (Romans 8:31-39). But when are saved we also find ourselves also drafted into a war, called "the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). It is a lifetime war to keep believing the gospel and a war to spread it to others. In this age we “strive to enter that [complete] rest” of the age to come (Hebrews 4:11).
And wars are exhausting, especially long ones aren't they?. That’s why you are often tired, weary, burnt out, and feel like giving up. Those who have ever fought in a real war and have experienced the fierceness of combat want to get out of it. We want relief, green pastures, idyllic still, calm waters. That’s why you feel urges to escape or surrender or quit. That’s why there are times you’re so tempted to give up.
Paul said, “If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12)… But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Tim 4:5). Paul wrote this to Timothy at the end of his life. To inspire this call to endure, he mentions his own endurance to the end and how he measured his life. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:6-8) The criterion of Paul’s life was that he endured fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith.
Repeatedly we are commanded to "stand" in the face of opposition that would knock us down or lure us to fall down or bow down. "Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm" (Ephesians 6:13). "Stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved" (Philippians 4:1). "Brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us" (2 Thessalonians 2:15) (God will) present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard (Colossians 1:22-23)
We are admonished, "Do not grow weary in doing well" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). "Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed" (2 Timothy 3:14). "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering" (Hebrews 10:23). "Hold fast what you have until I come" (Revelation 2:25). A blessing is pronounced on those who endure under trial. "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12).
NEVER GIVE UP...
No, rather “take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7).
when that familiar sin, still crouching at your door after all these years, pounces again and again with temptation.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
when you feel that deep soul weariness from long battles with persistent weaknesses.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:8–9).
when your long prayed-for prayers have not yet been answered.
And he told them [the parable of the persistent widow] to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).
when the devil’s fiery darts of doubt land and make you reel.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day…in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:13,16).
when the fragmenting effect of multiple pressures seems relentless.
But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger . . . (2 Corinthians 6:4–5).
when the field the Lord has assigned you to is hard and the harvest does not look promising:
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
when you labor in obscurity and you wonder how much it even matters.
Your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:4).
when your reputation is damaged because you are trying to be faithful to Jesus.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Matthew 5:11).
when waiting on God seems endless.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30–31)
when you have failed in sin. Don’t wallow. Repent (again), get your eyes off yourself and back on Jesus, get up and get back in the fight and keep on running with Jesus..
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9); if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
Jesus knows you you and your works (Revelation 2:2) and he understands the war (Hebrews 12:3).
So...
“Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).
Finish the race (2 Timothy 4:7).
“By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:19).
Neither must you dear reader. NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!
Pastor Bill
Sir Winston Churchill the great Prime Minister of Great Britain returned to Eton on October 29, 1941, the scene of his childhood education. By the time Churchill returned to Eton, his fame as a speaker was already well known to every British schoolboy. The moment was at hand to hear the great man display his oratory. The assembly was hushed as Churchill approached the podium. He grasped the lectern and thrust out his chin in bulldog ferocity and said, "Never give up, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty-never give up except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, never, never give up. “Then he sat down. With one sentence he electrified his audience. One wonders how many times in how many young men's secret thoughts those words came back in a moment of crisis, a moment when the fearful totter between fight or flight.
Never give up! This is a message echoed again and a gain in the word of God. I have a goal, and it is not hidden. I long to endure to the end for the glory of Christ, and I want to help others do the same. Some days this past year, I have felt so weak, emotionally fragile, tired, and ready to give up. but I believe with all my heart that God has ordained and it is His plan for God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated saints who will endure to the end. I feel the earnest longing that you and I will stay true to Jesus throughout our whole life.
One of the great themes of the Bible could be summed up in the words "You have need of endurance" (Hebrews 10:36).' John puts it this way, "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints" (Revelation 14:12). It is not a small consideration, since Jesus said, "The one who endures to the end will be saved' (Matthew 24:13). Notice that our Lord says, “To the end." The whole idea is finishing the course. You can run for five or ten or fifteen miles in a marathon; but if you don’t run the full twenty six miles and 385 yards, you didn’t finish the course. The race must be run to the end.
But we all long for rest and refreshment. That’s a God-given longing that he promises to fulfill: “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish” (Jeremiah 31:25). And in a very real way Jesus gives rest to “all who labor and are heavy laden” and come to him (Matthew 11:28). But in this age, it is not the complete rest.
We are blessed that in this age, Jesus grants us the gospel rest of ceasing the impossible labor of attempting to save ourselves from our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21) or to earn his love and approval (Romans 8:31-39). But when are saved we also find ourselves also drafted into a war, called "the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). It is a lifetime war to keep believing the gospel and a war to spread it to others. In this age we “strive to enter that [complete] rest” of the age to come (Hebrews 4:11).
And wars are exhausting, especially long ones aren't they?. That’s why you are often tired, weary, burnt out, and feel like giving up. Those who have ever fought in a real war and have experienced the fierceness of combat want to get out of it. We want relief, green pastures, idyllic still, calm waters. That’s why you feel urges to escape or surrender or quit. That’s why there are times you’re so tempted to give up.
Paul said, “If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12)… But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Tim 4:5). Paul wrote this to Timothy at the end of his life. To inspire this call to endure, he mentions his own endurance to the end and how he measured his life. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:6-8) The criterion of Paul’s life was that he endured fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith.
Repeatedly we are commanded to "stand" in the face of opposition that would knock us down or lure us to fall down or bow down. "Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm" (Ephesians 6:13). "Stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved" (Philippians 4:1). "Brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us" (2 Thessalonians 2:15) (God will) present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard (Colossians 1:22-23)
We are admonished, "Do not grow weary in doing well" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). "Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed" (2 Timothy 3:14). "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering" (Hebrews 10:23). "Hold fast what you have until I come" (Revelation 2:25). A blessing is pronounced on those who endure under trial. "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12).
NEVER GIVE UP...
No, rather “take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when that familiar sin, still crouching at your door after all these years, pounces again and again with temptation.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when you feel that deep soul weariness from long battles with persistent weaknesses.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:8–9).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when your long prayed-for prayers have not yet been answered.
And he told them [the parable of the persistent widow] to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when the devil’s fiery darts of doubt land and make you reel.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day…in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:13,16).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when the fragmenting effect of multiple pressures seems relentless.
But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger . . . (2 Corinthians 6:4–5).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when the field the Lord has assigned you to is hard and the harvest does not look promising:
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
NEVER GIVE UP...
when you labor in obscurity and you wonder how much it even matters.
Your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:4).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when your reputation is damaged because you are trying to be faithful to Jesus.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Matthew 5:11).
NEVER GIVE UP...
when waiting on God seems endless.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30–31)
NEVER GIVE UP...
when you have failed in sin. Don’t wallow. Repent (again), get your eyes off yourself and back on Jesus, get up and get back in the fight and keep on running with Jesus..
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9); if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
Jesus knows you you and your works (Revelation 2:2) and he understands the war (Hebrews 12:3).
So...
“Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).
Finish the race (2 Timothy 4:7).
“By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:19).
A poet once said, “When the pathway seems long, when temptation is strong, when your strength’s almost gone-That’s the time to press on.” Dear readers, we must press on. Never, never, never give up. You can endure, because God has given us all the grace we need to persevere. You will endure, because God has promised that you will. (2 Timothy 1: 12)
An English pastor who lived from (1759-1836) named Charles Simeon. He was the pastor of Trinity Church in Cambridge England for 54 years. When he was first appointed to pastor, the congregation didn’t want him, they wanted this other man. But the bishops said there was no way this other man would be Pastor so they stood behind Simeon. As a result, first, the leaders of the congregation at Trinity refused to let him preach the Sunday afternoon service; instead they hired the assistant they originally wanted to preach it. This took place for five years. Then when he left they hired another independent man for seven more years! Finally, twelve years after becoming Pastor, they let him preach the Sunday afternoon service. During this time he attempted a later Sunday night service and masses flocked to hear him preach. But some of the leaders of the church locked the doors while people stood outside waiting on the street. Simeon had the locks removed and the leaders went right back and had new ones put on. But there is more, the church locked the pew doors on Sunday mornings. The pew-holders refused to come and refused to let others sit in their personal pews. So Simeon set up seats in the aisles, nooks, and corners at his own expense. But the leadership took them out and threw them into the churchyard. This went on for at least ten years and people kept coming standing where they could. There is so much more I could tell you of tremendous persecution, prejudice, criticism, slander, false rumors, in Cambridge from students, fellow professors, and fellow clergymen; and 13 years of failing health from the age of 47 till he was 60. Yet he never quit and kept on preaching until two months before his death at 77. When he was 71 he was asked by his good friend how he handled and outlasted it in his many years of ministry. He said: “My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ’s sake.” Charles Simeon never quit! He endured and persevered! He never gave up.
Neither must you dear reader. NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!
Pastor Bill
Saturday, September 1, 2012
THE CR0SS AND OVERCOMING SIN
How many of you have heard a preacher call out sins in the body of Christ, demand repentance, tell you that you are not a Christian if you sin, challenge you to go hard after holiness, to hate sin, and to walk in victory. You leave church convicted and fired up. You resolve that you are going to live a holy, righteous, and godly life. you want victory. You want to glorify Jesus in your motives, speech, and conduct. you pray hard with tears. What happens after all of this? Do you still sin after all this? Do you get discouraged and feel as if you are a carnal or sub-christian, if even a christian at all? Do you wonder what is wrong with you and how come you can't have victory like that preacher claims to have? Do you wonder why there are areas you are strong in and other areas that you are weak? Are you feeling free? How do you feel about God, you, and sin? Is there any hope to be truly victorious over sin?
When I became a Christian there were sins that were instantly delivered from my life by the power of the cross and the indwelling spirit such as profanity from my tongue. no doubt about it!It was a complete supernatural, instant, passive miracle on my part, a total sovereign act of God. I wish it were that way for all my sins. I wish I could pray for God to come and instantly deliver me from every sin so that I never sin again. Oh for it to be that easy to overcome sin! If that was the case, all any of us would need to do is find someone who could pray over us and break the desires and the behaviors and none of us would never sin again. This exactly the error that I find in some fellow Charismatic and Pentecostal circles. But in the 38 years I have been a Christian it has been both relief and heartache to know that I and all true believers have sin remaining in them in this life. The apostle Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12). In another place he said, "I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members" (Romans7:23 ). And Jesus taught us to pray daily, "Forgive us our sins" (Matthew 6:12 ).
So because of this, I know that I should never become complacent about sin. We cannot be passive thinking we do nothing and God does it all without us involved. It means I must fight it daily. We are commanded to constantly kill the sin that remains in our lives: "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you Will live.... Put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Romans8:13 ; Colossians 3:5). This is not optional. This is mortal combat: Sin dies or we die. The Puritan John Owen said it well,"kill sin before it kills you!" We all know by our experience that is exactly what happens in our life; Not that we ever become perfect in this age, but we go on killing sins as they attack us from day to day. We do not settle in with sin. We fight daily and we kill. But, how do we kill sin?
The problem for many of us is that we try to kill it by will power, strategies, determination, resolve, our own strength. in short, we think we are solely responsible for this sin killing. As a result, we fail miserably and end up utterly defeated, discouraged, doubting God's word about victory, and we end up failing miserably. So if God has called us to actively do certain things in order to overcome sin, how has He planned for us to succeed? How does this sin killing work in our lives?
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN OVERCOMING SIN IS TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS CHRIST HAS DONE UPON THE CROSS FOR US IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO OVERCOME OUR SINS
3 things have happened in regards to your spiritual victory:
1. In the death of Christ we died.
“We have been united with him in a death like his” (Romans 6:5; see also Romans 7:4; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).
Therefore:
“You also must consider yourselves dead to sin” (Romans 6:11).
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,” (Romans 6:12).
2. In the death of Christ we were bought.
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
Therefore:
“Glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
3. In the death of Christ we were forgiven.
“God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Therefore:
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another” (Ephesians 4:32).
So in every case, the decisive impulse for my holiness and my sin-killing is the death of Christ. Which means that the decisive power for our conquering sin is Christ’s cross canceling sin.
But don’t miss this: In each of these three cases (in the death of Christ I died, I was bought, and I was forgiven), the link between the cross and my conquered sin is my empowered will. My will, engaged to fight sin with blood-bought power. I say that because in each of these three cases the statement of my death, my purchase, and my forgiveness was made the cause of a command addressed to my will. “Let not sin reign in your body.” “Glorify God in your body.” And “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another.” Those commands are addressed to me. They engage my will.
And the power that engages and enlivens and carries my will, so that it will be clear that my willing is a cross-exalting willing, is the power of the Holy Spirit, which is given to me precisely because of the death of Christ for me. The Holy Spirit is a blood-bought, new covenant gift of God (Romans 8:35; 7:4; Galatians 2:20).
Which means that...
The link between the cross and my conquered sin is a Holy-Spirit empowered will.
Listen to these texts that describe this reality:
Romans 7:6, “We died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” I serve in the newness of the Spirit.
Romans 8:13, “By the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.” I put sin to death, by the Spirit."
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The life I now live . . . Christ lives in me.”
1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever serves, let him do it as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” I serve, but in the strength that God supplies. And it is a blood-bought supply.."
1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” I worked. But it was the grace of God that was working in my working.'.
Note that in In every single case, I am working. I am willing. I am serving. I am putting sin to death. My will is engaged. But in every case, my will is empowered by another will, the will of the Spirit, the will of Christ, the will of God, the will of grace.
This is so important for your understanding that I must repeat this again:
The link between the cross and the conquered sin in my life is my Holy-Spirit empowered will. And that empowering by the Spirit is blood-bought. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:5–6).
In other words, God intends that part of our experience of growing into the image of Christ, theologically known as sanctification, is to be the conscious, willed, opposition to specific sins in our lives. I only say “part” of our experience of sanctification because this is not the whole work of sanctification. Like I stated at the beginning, in some areas of sin, God simply takes away the desire and the temptation is gone, and we don’t have to fight that fight any more. But generally speaking this seems not to be the way we overcome most sins.
Think about this dear reader. None of these commands I have referred to (for example, to serve and to put sin to death) would be in the Bible if God did not intend that some sins be defeated by conscious opposition from our wills in the power of the Holy Spirit. What sins do you battle? For me there is fear, depression, lust, worry, anger, self-pity, selfishness, pride, and withdrawall. I must engage my will head on with my sins. Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). Nobody spontaneously tears out his eye. That is a ruthless, violent, act of will.
Philippians 2:12–13 is so important to our understanding in this ruthless and active attack upon sin in our lives:
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.".
Why should there be “fear and trembling” as I attack my sin and bring about salvation from my pride, lust, or selfishness? This is so important and has often been so negatively perceived as a threat as if I could lose my salvation if I don't work at it in a fearful sense of dread. The reason given in the text is not a threat at all dear reader.. It’s a gift. Work and will to kill your sin, and do it with fear and trembling, because God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, redeemer, justifyer, sustainer, Father, lover is so close to you that your working and willing are his working and willing.
Paul commands me to work out my salvation, because God is the one who works this in me. My willing and working is God’s willing and working. It is a miracle. But I do not wait passively, I "act the miracle" as John Piper puts it. Tremble at this breathtaking thought. God Almighty is in you. God is the one in you willing. God is the one in you working. My “continuous, sustained, strenuous” effort is not only being carried out in the very presence of all-holy God, but is the very continuous, sustained, strenuous effort of God himself. I am not waiting for a miracle. I am acting a miracle. My action is God’s action in fighting my sin. My willing is God’s willing. So, when it comes to killing my sin I don’t wait for the miracle, I act the miracle
Acting a miracle is different from working a miracle. When Jesus told a paralyzed man to get up, and he got up, Jesus worked a miracle. But when the paralyzed man Jesus told to get up, and he obeyed and got up, he acted the miracle. When Lazarus was dead and Jesus commanded him to get up, and he obeyed, Jesus worked the miracle, Lazarus acted the miracle. So when it comes to killing my sin, I don’t wait passively for the miracle of sin-killing to be worked on me, I act the miracle.
Sin killing my dear reader is a miraculous act from start to finish. It is rooted in the precious blood bought union with Jesus, His ownership, and His forgiveness and worked out by the ongoing presence of His sin delivering Holy Spirit living within.
I wish God would just instantly work to miraculously take away every desire, thought, motive, inclination, and act of sin in my life. In my opinion, it would be far better if there did not have to be any war at all. But God has not asked me for my opinion. Yes, He does promise us a day when the battle will cease. But until then, I thank God that he cancels sin at the cross and that he breaks the power of canceled sin and he does it through my Spirit-empowered will that fights with all its might, trembling, because it is God Himself willing in my willing.
Learning to bask in the cross and killing sin by the spirit,
Pastor Bill
When I became a Christian there were sins that were instantly delivered from my life by the power of the cross and the indwelling spirit such as profanity from my tongue. no doubt about it!It was a complete supernatural, instant, passive miracle on my part, a total sovereign act of God. I wish it were that way for all my sins. I wish I could pray for God to come and instantly deliver me from every sin so that I never sin again. Oh for it to be that easy to overcome sin! If that was the case, all any of us would need to do is find someone who could pray over us and break the desires and the behaviors and none of us would never sin again. This exactly the error that I find in some fellow Charismatic and Pentecostal circles. But in the 38 years I have been a Christian it has been both relief and heartache to know that I and all true believers have sin remaining in them in this life. The apostle Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12). In another place he said, "I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members" (Romans
So because of this, I know that I should never become complacent about sin. We cannot be passive thinking we do nothing and God does it all without us involved. It means I must fight it daily. We are commanded to constantly kill the sin that remains in our lives: "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you Will live.... Put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Romans
The problem for many of us is that we try to kill it by will power, strategies, determination, resolve, our own strength. in short, we think we are solely responsible for this sin killing. As a result, we fail miserably and end up utterly defeated, discouraged, doubting God's word about victory, and we end up failing miserably. So if God has called us to actively do certain things in order to overcome sin, how has He planned for us to succeed? How does this sin killing work in our lives?
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN OVERCOMING SIN IS TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS CHRIST HAS DONE UPON THE CROSS FOR US IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO OVERCOME OUR SINS
3 things have happened in regards to your spiritual victory:
1. In the death of Christ we died.
“We have been united with him in a death like his” (Romans 6:5; see also Romans 7:4; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).
Therefore:
“You also must consider yourselves dead to sin” (Romans 6:11).
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,” (Romans 6:12).
2. In the death of Christ we were bought.
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
Therefore:
“Glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
3. In the death of Christ we were forgiven.
“God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Therefore:
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another” (Ephesians 4:32).
So in every case, the decisive impulse for my holiness and my sin-killing is the death of Christ. Which means that the decisive power for our conquering sin is Christ’s cross canceling sin.
But don’t miss this: In each of these three cases (in the death of Christ I died, I was bought, and I was forgiven), the link between the cross and my conquered sin is my empowered will. My will, engaged to fight sin with blood-bought power. I say that because in each of these three cases the statement of my death, my purchase, and my forgiveness was made the cause of a command addressed to my will. “Let not sin reign in your body.” “Glorify God in your body.” And “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another.” Those commands are addressed to me. They engage my will.
And the power that engages and enlivens and carries my will, so that it will be clear that my willing is a cross-exalting willing, is the power of the Holy Spirit, which is given to me precisely because of the death of Christ for me. The Holy Spirit is a blood-bought, new covenant gift of God (Romans 8:35; 7:4; Galatians 2:20).
Which means that...
The link between the cross and my conquered sin is a Holy-Spirit empowered will.
Listen to these texts that describe this reality:
Romans 7:6, “We died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” I serve in the newness of the Spirit.
Romans 8:13, “By the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.” I put sin to death, by the Spirit."
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The life I now live . . . Christ lives in me.”
1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever serves, let him do it as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” I serve, but in the strength that God supplies. And it is a blood-bought supply.."
1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” I worked. But it was the grace of God that was working in my working.'.
Note that in In every single case, I am working. I am willing. I am serving. I am putting sin to death. My will is engaged. But in every case, my will is empowered by another will, the will of the Spirit, the will of Christ, the will of God, the will of grace.
This is so important for your understanding that I must repeat this again:
The link between the cross and the conquered sin in my life is my Holy-Spirit empowered will. And that empowering by the Spirit is blood-bought. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:5–6).
In other words, God intends that part of our experience of growing into the image of Christ, theologically known as sanctification, is to be the conscious, willed, opposition to specific sins in our lives. I only say “part” of our experience of sanctification because this is not the whole work of sanctification. Like I stated at the beginning, in some areas of sin, God simply takes away the desire and the temptation is gone, and we don’t have to fight that fight any more. But generally speaking this seems not to be the way we overcome most sins.
Think about this dear reader. None of these commands I have referred to (for example, to serve and to put sin to death) would be in the Bible if God did not intend that some sins be defeated by conscious opposition from our wills in the power of the Holy Spirit. What sins do you battle? For me there is fear, depression, lust, worry, anger, self-pity, selfishness, pride, and withdrawall. I must engage my will head on with my sins. Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). Nobody spontaneously tears out his eye. That is a ruthless, violent, act of will.
Philippians 2:12–13 is so important to our understanding in this ruthless and active attack upon sin in our lives:
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.".
Why should there be “fear and trembling” as I attack my sin and bring about salvation from my pride, lust, or selfishness? This is so important and has often been so negatively perceived as a threat as if I could lose my salvation if I don't work at it in a fearful sense of dread. The reason given in the text is not a threat at all dear reader.. It’s a gift. Work and will to kill your sin, and do it with fear and trembling, because God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, redeemer, justifyer, sustainer, Father, lover is so close to you that your working and willing are his working and willing.
Paul commands me to work out my salvation, because God is the one who works this in me. My willing and working is God’s willing and working. It is a miracle. But I do not wait passively, I "act the miracle" as John Piper puts it. Tremble at this breathtaking thought. God Almighty is in you. God is the one in you willing. God is the one in you working. My “continuous, sustained, strenuous” effort is not only being carried out in the very presence of all-holy God, but is the very continuous, sustained, strenuous effort of God himself. I am not waiting for a miracle. I am acting a miracle. My action is God’s action in fighting my sin. My willing is God’s willing. So, when it comes to killing my sin I don’t wait for the miracle, I act the miracle
Acting a miracle is different from working a miracle. When Jesus told a paralyzed man to get up, and he got up, Jesus worked a miracle. But when the paralyzed man Jesus told to get up, and he obeyed and got up, he acted the miracle. When Lazarus was dead and Jesus commanded him to get up, and he obeyed, Jesus worked the miracle, Lazarus acted the miracle. So when it comes to killing my sin, I don’t wait passively for the miracle of sin-killing to be worked on me, I act the miracle.
Sin killing my dear reader is a miraculous act from start to finish. It is rooted in the precious blood bought union with Jesus, His ownership, and His forgiveness and worked out by the ongoing presence of His sin delivering Holy Spirit living within.
I wish God would just instantly work to miraculously take away every desire, thought, motive, inclination, and act of sin in my life. In my opinion, it would be far better if there did not have to be any war at all. But God has not asked me for my opinion. Yes, He does promise us a day when the battle will cease. But until then, I thank God that he cancels sin at the cross and that he breaks the power of canceled sin and he does it through my Spirit-empowered will that fights with all its might, trembling, because it is God Himself willing in my willing.
Learning to bask in the cross and killing sin by the spirit,
Pastor Bill
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