When Foundations Crumble

June 6, 2013                                                      THESE NOTES ARE NOT EDITED

When Foundations Crumble

Psalm 11

SIS:  As our nation changes we must realize as believers that God does not change and our mission as the church to spread the gospel has not changed.

This week we celebrate the 237^th birthday of the United States of America (counting from the D.O.I).  We celebrate birthdays with parties and frivolity, and well we should.  For each birthday is an acknowledgment that the Lord has blessed us one more year.  But, I’m not so sure the 237^th birthday of the U.S. calls for light-heartedness and frivolity.  In light of the recent bombshell dropped the Supreme Court in their long awaited decisions on gay marriage, there is a foreboding cloud lingering overhead.  Our Republic is definitely showing signs of wear and tear.  I feel it would be helpful to set down a few principles for what God’s Word says in regard to Christ and culture.

There is absolutely no doubt that there has been a “sea change” in American culture.  Sea-change or seachange is a poetic or informal term meaning a gradual transformation in which the form is retained but the substance is replaced.  Shakespeare described this process in his play, The Tempest.  Ariel sings:

"Full fathom five thy father lies // Of his bones are coral made,


Those are pearls that were his eyes // Nothing of him that doth fade,


But doth suffer a sea-change,

In this case, Shakespeare was describing something positive—a good, lasting transformation.  A sort of immortality in the poet’s eyes.

In regard to the sea change in American culture, I’m not sure we can be as positive.  Gradually, over many decades now America has been changing.  I can see little evidence that the results have been altogether positive—especially in regard to the general moral condition of the country. 

Since 1962, the Supreme Court has been a major player in bringing about a sea change in our country.  Three major decisions in a ten years span set the stage for last weeks blockbuster decision.

Beginning with Engel v. Vitale in 1962, followed by Murray v. Curtlett praying in school was out.  Abington v Schemp in 1963, tossed out Bible reading in schools. The castastophe known as Roe v. Wad came in 1972 and the sanctity of life was scuttled. These were major decisions bringing about the sea change in American culture we see manifested in the Supreme Court’s decision last week.

There was one lone dissenting voice in these battles.  Justice Potter Stewart recognized the sea change these types of decisions forebode.  Justice Potter Stewart wrote, "It [the decision on Prayer and Bible reading] led not to true neutrality with respect to religion, but to the establishment of a religion of secularism." Even the Wall Street Journal recognized the shift in American culture:  After the June 17, 1963 ruling the Wall Street Journal commented that atheism was now "the one belief to which the state's power will extend its protection." (Wikipedia). That’s it folks. The sea change began in 1962 and we see now that the recent decisions in regard to homosexuality and marriage are the logical ends of that change.

In 1972 we as a nation could not “define” what it meant to be alive.  In 2013, we cannot decide what it means to be married.  We can no longer define motherhood or fatherhood in any meaningful way.  If we can no longer identify a baby in utero as an innocent, living human being, should we be surprised that we can no longer “define” marriage as a union of a man and a woman?  As a nation we are as confused morally as a transgendered person, gay or lesbian is confused sexually.  The two issues:  political and personal are linked. The same spirit of confusion—the Devil—works in the political arena as he does in the personal arena.  We as a nation are simply, “confused,” because we have lost our foundations.

“Foundations” is plural in our text.  This Psalm is comprehensive covering the full range of the human experience:  political, economic, social, and most of all, spiritual.  Let’s read that text:  Psalm 11:1-7.

That the foundations are crumbling seems beyond dispute. One area in which the crumbling moral foundations are most evident are in the lives of our youth. For decades prior to 1962 teenage pregnancy had remained relatively stable, yet in every year following the courts decisions in 1962-63 unwed teenage pregnancy has gone up. In girls under 14 it has gone up 553%. Sexually transmitted diseases were extremely uncommon and rare. Following 1962 they have shot up over 220%. Pre-marital sex had even been declining before the removal of religious teachings, yet following 1962 they have risen 271%. For 15 year olds, since that time it has risen over 1000%.

Another area in which we see the foundations of society crumbling is in the area of families.  Divorce had been declining every year since 1948.  In 1962-63, we told God, we don’t want you in our lives.  Beginning in 1963, the divorce rate began to climb again until it has risen over 120%. The U.S. is now #1 in the world in divorce.  1/3 of all babies (33%) are now born out of wedlock. Prior to 1962 that number was around 4%.  Family foundations have crumbled.

Consider  Education.  Prior to 1963, the SAT had never risen or dropped more than one year in a row since 1946 (a revision of the SAT).  After prayer and Bible Reading were kicked out of school in 1963, SAT scores dropped for 18 consecutive years.

By the way, SAT scores for private religious school students are nearly 80 points higher on average. So what is the difference between the two? One system teaches God’s Way, one system rejects His Way.

Consider the economic foundation of our nation.  Our national debt is now measured in the trillions.  Unemployment is the highest it has been since the Great Depression.  Home foreclosure is common.  We were for most of our history the top “Lending” nation in the world.  Now, we are the largest debtor nation in the world.  We are staying afloat by printing money and selling our children’s inheritance to foreign nations.

The poor foundation for the Leaning Tower of Pisa has made it one of the most recognized and visited tourist spots on the planet.  The crumbling foundation of America is not so quaint.  We are seriously leaning and about to fall over.  America is in a dangerous lean toward enshrining godlessness in the laws of our nation.

America’s foundations are crumbling.  We were once a “shining city upon a hill.”  Our shine has been tarnished from years of weathering through the political process.  The recent Supreme Court decision is but on storm in a long string of storms that has eroded the Judeo-Christian foundations for our country.

And, do not buy the lie that we were NOT established upon solid, intentional principles of the Christian faith.  In common vernacular we were established as a “Christian nation.”  That does not mean we ever lived out a Christian theocracy, or were ever intended to do so.  But, the stones in our foundation as a nation were solidly, intentionally Christian.

But years of government schooling, especially since the 60’s has erased that history and substituted a secular revision.  America’s heritage can still be seen in frescos and engravings on walls and monuments in Washington.  Faint echoes of Christian truth can be heard in our courts and common places, but increasing less so every year.  America is in a dangerous lean toward godless secularism.

The Judeo-Christian stones of our foundations are nearly gone.  They lie broken in a dusty heap.  This is a fact.  Yet, we cannot go back to any former “glory days.”  We are here, and we need to move forward.  That is what this Psalm teaches as we watch our foundations crumble.  We must understand three absolute and incontrovertible truths.  I’ll only cover them briefly for they are largely self-explanatory:

1.  Truth has not changed.

For all the jubilation and dancing in the streets of gays waving rainbow flags; for all the throngs of same-sex couples lined up at Jerry Brown’s courthouses to get a marriage license; for all the liberal pundits pontificating about the “new age of civil rights in America,” one would think that something significant has changed.  But, for all that might have changed, one thing certainly has not changed:  “truth has not changed!”

Homosexuality was wrong before this recent Supreme Court decision, and it is still wrong today.  Truth is not subject to majority opinion, whether it is 5-4 on the Supreme Court, or whether it is 100 to 1 in the court of public opinion.  Truth does not change.  Notice verse 4a:

⁴ The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.

We constantly hear the talking heads on T.V. declare, “Well, the polls say.”  But let me assure you that when every man, woman and child stands before God in judgment, God is not going to be swayed by polling and pundits.  God is going to look at the “truth.”  How does one’s life line up with truth will be the only thing that matter, not whether one’s life lined up with what is politically correct.

We live in an age where many, even most people, think that truth is subject to public opinion, cultural exigency, or subjective feelings.  Not so, truth is eternal.  Truth emanates from the very Person of Almighty God.  Jesus, God Incarnate, said,

“I am the Truth!”  Not “a” truth competing with other truths.  Jesus said, “I am the Truth.”  Truth is embodied in Jesus Christ, Almighty God in Human Flesh.  The Bible declares, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Let me say this as concisely as possible.  As we see the foundations of this nation crumbling around us.  As our nation sinks in the quagmire of moral confusion; as the tide of reprobation rises, and the stink of rebellion reaches God’s nostrils, and every man goes his own way, be assured of this:  TRUTH NEVER CHANGES. 

Isaiah 40:8 declares:  The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.

Man’s rebellion does not annul God’s Sovereignty .  The puny court of public opinion cannot raise a challenge to God’s Sovereignty.  God has not descended His throne nor abrogated  His authority.  God’s Truth, is not subject to the majority opinion of men in black robes.  Though the vote be “All Against, but God For,” His vote is the only one that matters. TRUTH NEVER CHANGES because God is still sitting on the throne.

As we watch the crumbling foundations of a nation leaning toward self-destruction, consider also that

2.  God’s Providence for His people has not changed.

Throughout the Founding documents, and those writings of the Founding Fathers from which the principles of our Founding Documents were derived, a favorite designation of Almighty God was, “Providence.”  It was always capitalized.  The last line of the Declaration of Independence, America’s birth certificate, says:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Benjamin Franklin, a signer of that Declaration, would again reference Providence in a letter in 1784 when he wrote, “"If it had not been for the justice of our cause, and the consequent interposition of Providence, in which we had faith, we must have been ruined." – Ben Franklin (to William Strahan).

Providence is a theological word that does not itself appear in the Bible, like the word “trinity.”  It does however represent a great doctrine found throughout the Word of God.  Providence refers to the divine care of God for His people.  It is related to God’s divine foresight to see what His people need, and act as His sovereign will dictates to meet that need.  The key elements of Providence are divine care and a divine plan.

Please mark this down:  just because a nation abandons God, does not mean God has or will abandon His people.  God always keeps to Himself a remnant.  This has been the case throughout history as Israel, God’s chosen people, illustrates.  As Israel endured a time of affliction, oppression, and captivity by foreign powers—a situation faced many times in Israel—and there future seemed very uncertain,

Isaiah declares: ^10:20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ²¹ The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

God never takes His eye off His people, even when at times He lifts His hand of blessing from them.  Even though a nation can and they do abandon God, God will never abandon His people.  Look at v4b-6:

His eyes watch; He examines  everyone.  ⁵ The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked.  He hates the lover of violence.  ⁶ He will rain burning coals  and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion.

We set our course in life by the stars of heaven, not the circumstances of the sea.  Our course in life is set by God, and nothing will ever stop His people or change His plans.  Job faced tremendous and greatly adverse circumstances.  He lost everything.  Life was against him.  His friends were against him.  Even his wife suggested Job, “curse God and die!” But, what did Job declare: 

^42:2 I  know that You can do anything
and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

I must say that when I first heard the Supreme Court cast their lot with the homosexual agenda, it was like a punch in the gut—even though it was no surprise.  It is the final nails in the coffin of traditional marriage.  The slide into the full embrace of homosexuality as mainstream in American society will not be stopped.  I felt despair well up inside of me.  But, it did not last long.  I know the Word of God, and I know the God of the Word.  I had committed Job 42:2 to memory long ago.  I knew the truth and when the Supreme Court appeared to change everything, I realized that God’s Providencial Plan for His People Has Not Changed.  God’s watchful eye is still on His people:  He will reward the righteous and He will punish the wicked.  A Supreme Court decision cannot change God’s Providencial Plan for His people.

And, this leads us to the main point of consideration this morning:

3.  Our mission as the Church has not changed. 

Our mission as the Church of God is not dependent upon a court decision or a public vote.  We do not get our marching orders from legislators or judges.  We get our marching orders from Almighty God.  Look at verse 7

⁷ For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.

The Supreme Court’s decision has not changed our mission.  We are to be about the business of “righteous deeds.”  This phrase casts my mind upon Matthew 5:16:

let your light shine  before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

In a sense, we should not be reviling the Supreme Court, but we should be thanking them.  They have thrust our nation even further into darkness which will only serve to make our lights shine all the brighter.

The hungry still need fed.  The poor still need clothing.  The homosexuals and all other manner of sinners still need the hope of salvation found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A desert makes water all that more precious and darkness makes a light all the more priceless.  Our mission has not changed.  The Psalmist said, “do righteous deeds.”  Jesus said, “do good works.”  Jesus outlined how we do the gospel in Matthew 25.  He said, good deeds were caring for “the least of these in society”.  Jesus said,

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty

and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Let me ask, how is the Supreme Courts decision about marriage, or about anything, preventing us from doing the things outlined by Jesus Christ?  OUR MISSION HAS NOT CHANGED.  The Psalmist said, “do righteous deeds and you will one day see God’s face.”  Our mission has not changed one iota since Jesus commissioned us over 2000 years ago:  meet the needs of those around you.  And, the greatest need of all, is the need to hear and receive the message of the Good News that Jesus Saves.  Our mission has not changed.  It is still,

⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples  of  all nations,  baptizing  them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,  I am with you always,  to the end of the age.”

The Supreme Court’s decision has not changed our mission.  In fact, it has highlighted just how “urgent” our mission really is.  Our mission has not changed, though how we do things must certainly change; but not what we do or Who we are doing it for.

Now, the Psalmist asks a straight-forward question:  “When the foundations are crumbling what must the righteous do?”  Do what we should have been doing all along:  “practice righteous deeds.”  Practice “righteous deeds” in your personal life.  Practice righteous deeds in your family life.  Practice righteous deeds where you work,
where you shop, and where you play.

Some talk as if the recent Supreme Court changed everything.  In reality, it has not changed anything that really matters—that matters eternally.  It has not changed Truth.  It has not changed God’s Providence.  It has not changed Our Mission. 

If the Supreme Court’s decision changed anything, may it have changed us.  May it have strengthened our resolve and emblazoned our passion for righteousness.  If we let God change us, God will let us change the world.

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The Power of an Epistle

June 23, 2013                                THESE NOTES ARE NOT EDITED

The Power of an Epistle                GRAMMAR POLICE BE WARNED

2Corinthians 3:1-18

SIS—Christians are the only Jesus some will ever see and the only Bible some will ever read—we need to be “living epistles” bringing life-producing ministry to others.

An “epistle” is simply a “letter,” or a message sent from one party to another.  A letter, or epistle, can be a powerful thing.  A very old saying, forms of it going back hundreds of years, declares:  “The pen is mightier than the sword.” The Greek poet Euripides, who died about 406 B.C., said, "The tongue is mightier than the blade." In 1600 Shakespeare had Rosencrantz in Hamlet say that "... many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills”  (TriviaLibrary.com).

Back in the early ‘50’s there was a comic book character created by Charles Shultz, the father of Charlie Brown, before Charlie Brown became the megastar he is today. Shultz created a character named, Charlotte Braun, intended to be the counterpart to the lovable, Charlie Brown.  She was loud and obnoxious. At least one fan wrote Shultz a letter complaining about Charlotte.  After only six appearances, Shultz got tired of Charlotte, also.  He killed her off—LITERALLY!  Tiring of Charlotte, Shultz sent a letter to the disgruntled fan agreeing that Charlotte had to go.  He included a sketch of Charlotte with an ax in her head.  Comic strips can be dangerous places. 

There are many examples throughout history that show the “power of an epistle.”  Today, we are going to discuss what it means to be living epistles bearing God’s message of life to the world.

Note:  you will see that I expanded my text from ending at verse 6 to ending at verse 18.  The reason is that verses 7-18 are actually a biblical example illustrating and expanding the truth in  verse 3—that is, what it means to be a “living epistle of God.”

READING:  2Corinthians 3:1-14

A “Living Epistle” is written in three stages:

1.  A Radical Encounter (vss 3; 7-11)

All throughout the Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, we see the record of God interacting with men and women.  Every time we see these encounters between God and mankind, we see a radical change in people’s lives—usually for the better. 

Whether it is radical encounter Noah had that resulted in the saving of the human race through a world-wide flood, or the radical encounter Paul had, as Saul of Damascus, that catapulted the saving message of the gospel to the entire known world, an encounter with God radically changes those who so encounter Him.

Like, Noah and Paul, or so many others, this radical encounter leads to radical ministry.  This is the essence of what it means to become a “living epistle of God.”  Look at verse 3,

It is clear that you are Christ’s letter,  produced  by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God —not on stone tablets  but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

The phrase, “not on stone tablets,” is a reference to the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God and handed down to the Israelites through Moses.  It looks back at the encounter (one of many) that Moses had with Almighty God.  That encounter radically changed Moses, even to the point of physically altering his appearance.  The Law of God written on stone should have radically altered the lives of the Israelites, but it did not.  Look at verses 7-11:

⁷ Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory,  so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face—a fading glory— ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? ⁹ For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. ¹⁰ In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if what was fading away  was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

As I said, the encounter with God in the process of receiving His law radically changed Moses—even His physical appearance (Ex.34:35).  That’s the Law of God written on “stone tablets,” in verse 3.  But, this “letter, or epistle written on stone” became a “ministry of death” (v 7).  Why?  The answer is in verse 14a:  “but their minds were closed.”

There is no life in a stone.  There is no life simply by “owning a Bible,” or even reading a Bible, or even becoming a Bible scholar.  There is only “life” when there is a “radical encounter through the Holy Spirit of God.”  This is what verse 3 calls, “the law of God written on tablets that are hearts of flesh.”  This is a reference to Jeremiah 31:3.  One cannot become a “living epistle” until one has been radically changed by an encounter with the Holy Spirit of God.  It is the Holy Spirit that a gives eternal life, not a religious book, or religious ritual.  Look at verses 9-11:

For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. ¹⁰ In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if what was fading away  was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

The idea of “glory” (doxa) here paints the image of a “powerful explosion of light,” or the idea of “splendor.”  This is what happens when a person comes into contact with God and becomes “a living epistle of God with God’s message radiating from one’s life.”

Why is the world not more “impressed” by the church?  We have grand buildings, spectacular programs, and skilled orators, minister to thousands--but where is the “splendor?”  Where is the “majestic expression of God’s power?”  Where is the “explosion of glory?”

There is no “brilliant, explosion of light” because there is only a message written on “stone cold hearts.”  Religion will never cause an explosion of God’s splendor in the heart of anyone.  Only the Holy Spirit can do that.  Only a radical encounter with Almighty God results in a “living epistle of God’s message written on a changed heart.”

When this radical encounter takes place it is like the explosion of a rocket engine that sends a ship into the far reaches of outer space.  A radical encounter results in a

2.  Spirit-produced Competence (vs 3)

Let me read verse 3 again.  It is central to the text:

³ It is clear that you are Christ’s letter,  produced  by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God —not on stone tablets  but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

This verse makes it clear:  a believer is a living epistle of God with God’s life-giving message written in the blood of Jesus upon the heart.  A believer is in a very real sense, “The very Word of God.”

That’s what the song is trying to reflect that says:

You're the only Jesus that some will ever see
And you're the only words of life, some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need
'Cause you're the only Jesus, some will ever see

This song expresses the truth we read in Romans 10:13-14

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

¹⁴ But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him?  And how can they hear without a preacher?”

So, the Bible makes it clear:  God intends for us to be living epistles of His saving message!  This presses me to ask a very penetrating, and very painful question:  “Am I an effective expression of God’s saving message?”

With a broken heart, and no a little shame, I must confess that I am NOT an effective living epistle of God.  I’m not alone in this sad confession.  In fact, I may be doing a bit better than many people.  The statistics are clear:  only 1 out of 10 people who call themselves Christian, every lead even 1 person to saving faith in Christ in their entire lifetime!

Now, maybe you have led someone to Christ.  Maybe 2 or 3.  I’ll let each man and woman judge themselves in this matter.  What is abundantly clear from the facts of the matter is this:  the church in America is NOT being effective in being living epistles of the saving message of Jesus Christ.

New polling numbers, like a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life show that the decline of Christian faith in America is accelerating.  America is very clearly turning away from Christianity and has been for some time.  So what does this mean for the future of our nation? For non-believers, this may be welcome news, but for Christ-followers it should cause great concern. In days past, the Christian faith had an overwhelming influence on everyday life in America.  As late as 1972, a whopping 62 percent of all Americans were Protestant and an astounding 93 percent of all Americans claimed to be affiliated with a religion of one sort or another.  But now things are dramatically changing. Here are some startling statistics; #1 Nearly one-fifth (20%) of all U.S. adults have no religious affiliation whatsoever.  Back in 1972, it was only 7 percent of all U.S. adults had no religious affiliation. #2 The younger you are the more likely you are not to be affiliated with a religion.  32 percent of all U.S. adults under the age of 30 have no religious affiliation. #3 A study conducted by the Barna Group discovered that nearly 60 percent of all Christians in the 15 to 29 year old age bracket are no longer actively involved in any church. #4 29 percent of all U.S. adults “seldom or never attend religious services”.#5 Islam is now the fastest growing religion in America according to the latest U.S. Religion Census.  #6 According to a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky, there were approximately 1,200 mosques in the United States back in the year 2000.  Now there are more than 2,100. #7 It is being projected that the percentage of Americans attending church in 2050 will be about half of what it is today. #8 One survey conducted a while back found that 52 percent of all American Christians believe that “at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life”. #9 LifeWay Research has also found that 46 percent of all Americans never even think about whether they will go to heaven or not. (adapted from: http://thetruthwins.com/archives).

All this makes me ask:  why?  Why are we so ineffective as living epistles in the church?  Two reasons come to mind.  We already hit on the first one:  many people who call themselves Christians have never really encountered the Living God.  It’s this simple.  You cannot be a living epistle OF God until you have experienced the Indwelling of the Spirit of God. Simply stated:  you must be “born-again” to become a living epistle of God.

A second reason for the ineffectiveness of God’s living epistles, is a matter of COMPETENCE, and the related matter of CONFIDENCE.

Quite simply, most true believers are totally incompetent in sharing the gospel because they lack “CONFIDENCE” in Christ.

The first matter is a matter of TRANSFORMATION, the second is a matter of CONSECRATION.  Many lack competence in sharing Christ as a living epistle, not because they have not been changed, but because they have never grown in confidence.  The way of expressing this issue biblically is to say, “Many people are saved, but not sanctified.”

Leviticus 20: 7 entreats us to,  Sanctify yourselves] therefore, and be ye holy.  1Thessalonians 4:3 says, It is God’s will that you should be sanctified (NIV). 

Sanctification is the process of surrendering to the Indwelling Spirit so that you become more and more like Christ.  It is “Part 2” of the story of your salvation—being born-again is “Part 1.”  Sadly, very few Christians get to Part 2.  Another way of expressing the idea of sanctification is to call it, “being filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).

This is a term that causes some confusion among Christians because some groups teach that it is a matter wholly separate from the process of being born-again.  While the process of sanctification occurs after one is saved, it is the same Spirit that does the sanctifying who also did the saving.  It is not a matter of “getting more of the Holy Spirit, but a matter of allowing the Holy Spirit to get more of you.

People lack competence, and therefore, confidence in sharing the gospel as living epistles because they stop growing (or never start) after they are born again.  Like the “law written on cold stone tablets,” the heart becomes cold toward God when one does not embrace the process of sanctification.

In order to become an effective living epistle of God’s saving message a person has to continually surrender more and more of themselves through practicing the “Five Holy Habits”:  Worship, Bible study, Prayer, Fellowship, and Evangelism.  Sanctification requires that one “take up the cross of Christ daily and follow Him.”

If you are not in the Word daily; if you are not involved in daily prayer; if you neglect to fellowship with other believers on a regular basis, and you don’t even consider telling others about Christ, you will be a “dead letter,” not a “living epistle.

The United States Postal Service started a dead letter office in 1825 to deal with undeliverable mail.  Approximately 90 million undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) items end up in this office each year.  Many of you read Hermann Melville’s short story, Bartleby the Scrivener, in high school. Bartleby worked in the Dead Letter Office.  Letters are written and sent for the purpose of being read.  A letter that is written, sent, but never read is a dead letter, not a living epistle.

Hebrews 6:1 says, Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.

This is what it means to “be sanctified.”  When you are “going on to maturity” by practicing the Five Holy Habits on a daily basis seeking to die to yourself more and more every day, then you will develop the competence in sharing the gospel through your confidence in knowing the ways of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit is daily gaining more and more control over your life as you gain more and more knowledge of the Bible and develop a deeper relationship with the Lord, then you will see an “explosion of effectiveness” in regard to sharing God’s message as His Living Epistle.  As our text says in verse 5:

It is not that we are competent in  ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God.

A radical encounter with God and a Spirit-filled competence through God will ultimately lead to the goal of being a living epistle which is:

3.  A Life-producing Ministry FOR God (vs 6)

The purpose of writing a letter is to have it read.  God has written, and is writing, His message on our hearts so that we can be living epistles ministering life to others.  Look at verse 6:

He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant,  not of the letter,  but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.

Look at that last phrase:  “The Spirit produces life.”  When it is all said and done, at the end of the day, a church full of Living Epistles will produce “new life.”  If that is not happening, something has gone amiss.

Sadly, the old cliché in business is true of many churches, “At the end of the day, when it is all said and done, more is said, than done.”

God empowers us to accomplish His decrees.  God’s Spirit indwells us to equip us for “life producing ministry.”  In Romans 12 and 1Corinthians 12, as well as other passages, the Bible tells us that God has given a “Spiritual Gift” to every believer. Romans 12:6 says,

According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts.

1Cor. 12:7 says, A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial.  Notice that phrase, “to produce what is beneficial.” 

Living Epistles produces!  Just like a shoe factory produces shoes, or a car factory produces cars, a church of Living Epistles produces disciples.  We don’t just keep recycling the old ones!

1Corinthians says every believe is given a “demonstration, or manifestation” of the Indwelling Holy Spirit to “produce what is beneficial.”  That’s what Paul calls “life producing ministry.”  It is very important to understand that these gifts, or spiritual manifestations, are “instrumental,” not “ornamental.”  God does not give us Spirit-empowered competence to bring attention to ourselves, but to bring glory to Him.  God empowers us so we are competent in serving Him.  God wants us to glorify Him, and nothing glorifies the Father more than “souls being saved”

John 15:8  My Father is glorified  by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be  My disciples.

A radical encounter with God leads to a Spirit-produced competence that results in life-producing ministry.

That’s what it means to be a Living Epistle.  I’ve said it a couple of times but we will benefit from hearing it again:  Christians are the only Jesus some will ever see and the only Bible many will ever read—we need to be involved in life-producing ministry.

An epistle is a powerful thing.  As Shakespeare said, “many wearing rapiers (swords) are afraid of goosequills.”  The pen, throughout history, has indeed been more powerful than the sword.  Ideas set to paper and sent among the common men are the foundation for all revolutions.  You can suppress a person with a sword, but you cannot suppress an idea.

Nowhere is this more true than in regard to God’s living epistles—you and I who bear upon our hearts the very message of God are powerful tools in the Hands of the Almighty as He sends us into the world.  If we have had a radical encounter with God; if we are experiencing a Spirit-produced competence as we surrender daily to the Spirit of God; then we will be life-producing ministers as we move out on mission for God.

A well-written letter is a powerful thing. In 1860 an eleven year old named Grace Bedell wrote a letter to then presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he would “look a great deal better with whiskers.”  The letter touched Lincoln’s heart and well, as they say, the rest is history.  A little girl’s letter literally changed the face of history.

As God’s living letters we can change eternity.