Maybe We Should

January 30, 2022           NOTES NOT EDITED
Maybe We Should?
Mark 16:9-20

SIS – We should be a bit more daring and bold in our devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is “real gospel preaching,” or a “real gospel church?”  How would one recognize “real gospel preaching” as compared to just clever, engaging, enlightening, and even entertaining oratory? What’s the difference between a “great speech” and “great gospel preaching?”  What’s the difference from a “good show that’s enlightening and even entertaining” and “true worship?”  Our text this morning points us to the answer.  Real Church and Real Preaching is attended by “Real Miracles.”

My text, more often debated than practiced, describes “real gospel preaching.” Let’s read our text.  Mark 16:15-18 (CSB):

¹⁴ Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.” ¹⁹ So the Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.]

The authenticity of this text is debated by scholars. That doesn’t necessarily mean the “veracity” contained in the text is challenged, but whether these words that conclude the writing of Mark, a follower of Jesus Christ and inspired author of the gospel bearing his name, were actually written by Mark.  They probably were not

But, what really troubles scholars about this text? Is it that somehow someone other than Mark penned these words for some reason to smooth out an abrupt ending uncharacteristic of First Century writing? Or, is it the emphasis on the “miraculous” that gets some “religious” folk all twisted up in a knot? I’m thinking it is the latter that is the case.

We modern folk consider ourselves too intellectually sophisticated to believe in such things as casting out demons, speaking in a heavenly language, being miraculously protected from calamities such as being bitten by deadly snakes or forced to drink deadly poison. This all sounds so . . . well, “primitive” and unscientific.

Most so-called Christians are far too advanced intellectually to believe in miracles—especially miracles involving “snake-handling.” But, what a great irony to be troubled by such minor miracles as casting out demons or being miraculously protected from deadly calamity, and yet, follow the teachings of Jesus who was crucified, lay in a cold tomb for three days, rolled away a two-ton stone and walked out to live among men and then be ascended into heaven. Oh, they practice a religion based upon THAT miracle, but have problems with “snake handling!” That’s just disingenuous and not the least bit foolish.

Not to mention, that kind of “christianity” (small “c”) is powerless! If God cannot save me from a snake bite, how in the world am I to believe He can save my soul from sin for all eternity! I know a lot of people who find “snake handling” to be a bizarre—actually crazy—way to express one’s faith. But, if the alternative is a dead, purposeless, frigid, powerless religion, then maybe we should consider a crazy alternative.

Many object to the verses because of abuses arising out of verses 17 and 18 regarding “the signs authenticating the work of the gospel.”  Most notably, and quite justifiably, many object to the idea of “picking up snakes and drinking poison” to prove one’s faith.  These verses do NOT teach we should “tempt God with such nonsense.”  These signs “followed” the apostolic teaching, they did not drive it.  The Book of Acts records many such miracles as are mentioned here in this text, and Christian history records many more. 

So, that brings me to the point I want to make about “handling snakes and drinking poison, yet not dyiing.”  “Maybe we should?”  Maybe we should “what?”  Maybe we should take up “snake handling!”  No, absolutely not, but maybe we should be a bit more daring and bold in our devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.  That’s my point.  The snake handlers of the Church of God With Signs Following with followers stretching from Tennessee to Pennsylvania, along with the Appalachian hills of West Virginia are “bold and daring” if they are anything!

Many members of the Church of God With Signs Following have withered hands from the repeated bites from copperheads, water moccasins, and rattle snakes.  Many have missing fingers that decayed as a result of snake bites. More than a few died expressing their faith by handling snakes.  They are bold and daring in their faith—we have to give them that.

I think the Church of God—and God’s church here on this hill—could benefit greatly from devotion that is a little bit more bold and daring.

Far from being willing to discard this text, I feel this is one of the most important passages in the New Testament.  Far from being bizarre, it describes the power that comes from living in the Presence of Almighty God and the Risen Lord through the Holy Spirit.  It talks about the miraculous promise that the Hand of God will powerfully evident in the lives of those who walk in His presence and serve in His Kingdom.

Bold and Daring Faith Has Three Requirements:  bold worship, bold service, and bold sacrifice.

1.  We should practice a more bold and daring WORSHIP

Follow me for a moment as I switch the channel to a parallel passage

in the Gospel of Matthew.  Matthew adds something about the last meeting the disciples have with Jesus Christ before He ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of God.  Matthew 28:16-17

 

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain

where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him,

they worshiped him; but some doubted.

“Worship and doubt,” – two opposite responses to the Risen Savior.  Just like many members of the Church of God With Signs Following have withered hands and missing fingers, so many churches have a withered religious program missing any real manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit power.

Why are so many Christians weak and so many churches insignificant to their communities?  We “dwell in doubt instead of dance in bold and daring worship.”    Why do so many people doubt the miraculous power of God to intervene in their lives. Notice here in Matthew that the opposite of “doubting is not believing.”  The opposite of doubting is WORSHIPPING. 

Many Christians live ineffectual, inconsequential lives because they neglect worship.  When a person worships God regularly and allows the Risen Christ to rise up in one’s soul, that person is changed.  The Bible teaches throughout that “God inhabits the praise of His people.”  God says in another place in the Gospel of Matthew, “Wherever two or three gather in my name, I am in the midst of them.” 

The same Lord that broke bread with Peter, James, John and the

other disciples, wants to break bread with you.  The same Lord we worship today is the same Lord that the disciples worshipped with two thousand years ago.  How is it possible to doubt that Jesus Christ is alive if you worship in His presence on a regular basis!?  That is simply not possible.  Almighty God and the Risen Lord through the Holy Spirit is present with us when we truly fall on our faces or raise or hands in worship. 

The Bible teaches that God visits His people in a mighty waywhen we gather to worship Him.  Bold and Daring Faith requires bold and daring WORSHIP.

2.  We should practice a more daring and bold SERVICE  (15,20)

Let’s go back to Mark 16.  Verse 15 says,  "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Then, Verse 20 says: [I like theKJVon this] 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

The proof of surrendered service to Jesus is “signs following” and a global SPREAD-“EVERYWHERE”  We can experience the power and presence of Almighty God and the Risen Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit WHEN WE ARE SERVING.

One of the most significant missionaries in the modern age was a Scotsman by the name of David Livingstone.  More than any other individual, Livingstone, a self-taught medical doctor, opened up the continent of Africa.  He brought the message of Light and Hope in the gospel to what had previously been called the Dark Continent.  His discoveries, such as Victoria Falls, made him a national hero to England.  His love of the African people made him a treasure to God.  So beloved was he by Africans that came to know him, that when he died his heart was removed and buried in Africa.  So beloved and treasured was he by England, his body is buried in the famous Westminster Abbey.  Missionary work literally killed Livingstone, but being a man of resolute character it took some years.  By the end of his life he was frail from16 difficult years of service in the swamps and jungles of Africa.  He suffered disease, starvation, and attacks from vicious animals in his service to God on the Dark Continent.  After having been in Africa for over a decade, Livingstone who was home in England for a brief furlough was asked to address the students at Glasgow University.  His body was weak from having fought off jungle fever over 27 times.  His left arm hung uselessly at his side as a result of a lion attack that nearly took his life.  Remember, he would still spend years yet in Africa even in this condition.  As he stood before the students, many contemplating missionary service themselves, he said, “I will tell you what sustained me amidst the toil, the hardship, and the loneliness of my exile.  It was Christ’s promise, ‘lo, I am with you always, even unto the end’ .” 

David Livingstone was living proof that “miraculous signs follow those who are bold and daring in their service to the Lord Jesus Christ.” For those who engage in spreading the gospel our text promises that the presence of Christ will bring: “signs and wonders!”

Friends, we must recapture a belief in the supernatural power of the

presence of God Almighty in our lives as we serve Him.  I’m not saying that we should go out and play with poisonous snakes or drink poisonous brew to “test” God.  I am simply saying that the God Who authenticated His work by “signs and wonders” two thousand years ago, is the same God we serve today.

How sad that the early disciples could raise the dead and most churches cannot even raise their budgets!

3.  We need a more daring and bold attitude of SACRIFICE. (20)

“They went OUT!”

“Out” is a very scary place.  “Out” represents the area beyond our comfort zone where success is not guaranteed, but sacrifice most certainly is.  “Out” represents that bold, new, frontier of living that pushes us to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”  This is really what it means to “handle snakes.”  Bold and daring faith is not about “testing” God, but about “trusting” God!

“Out” represents a willingness to “pay whatever costs must be paid to bring others the opportunity to be save.

The difference between a “bold and daring, snake handling” disciple and a the typical “frozen chosen church member” is that “a bold and daring disciple willingly takes upon himself suffering and sacrifice required to fulfill the purpose of extending the Kingdom of God.

That’s what “snake handling” in this passage really represents.  It is not some showy trick more suited for a circus act than an act of faith, but it is a sincere commitment to face anything for the cause of Christ—and do it willingly and fearlessly

That phrase is in verse 20: “The disciples WENT OUT!” says a lot about the early disciples.  They were not “campers for Christ,” but they were “crusaders for Christ.”  They had no desire to confine their worship and service to the safety of the sanctuary—be it the Temple or the synagogue.  No, they “broke out” of their comfort zones and moved into the danger zone of the world.  They were not interesting in “being safe,” but wanted to be “effective.”

The natural tendency of our human flesh is to seek comfort and protection.  Plato looked at the world with all its suffering and determined that God could not possibly have anything to do with creating or sustaining it.  This idea that the world is evil prevailed in Greek thought.  Though I do not agree with Plato’s conclusion, I certainly agree with his observations – the world is a place where suffering abounds.

God never promised that our service would be without sacrifice, but quite the opposite.  Suffering is the tarmac from which our service of God takes flight.

Suffering?  Yes!  But never abandonment.  God said very clearly and succinctly as we read earlier in Matthew: “and lo, I am with you always, even to the ends of the earth.”(28:20)

There has been no more bold and daring example of sacrifice than that which Jesus—God, the Son—demonstrated by dying on the cross.  Think about that phrase, “They went OUT!”  Did anyone move further OUT than Jesus Christ who left the glory of a throne in heaven to endure the cross on Calvary!  Philippians 2:5–8 (CSB)

⁵ Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. ⁷ Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, ⁸ he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

Jesus is our model for bold and daring faith.   If anyone ever faced deadly snakes it was Jesus surrounded by the serpentine demons of hell as He hung upon the cross—YET, He hung there—not secured by nails but secured by perfect obedience to God His Father and a perfect love for you and I. 

By and large, churches in the U.S. are not experiencing the miraculous signs and wonders that the Bible says will follow those who believe.  It is not that we are not experiencing some blessing, we are just not experiencing the blessing of God as He promised we would and should.

Mark 16 is dismissed by many scholars because they feel it is about “snake handling.”  It is not about “picking up snakes for a show of our faith” but it is about being “bold and daring” in the execution of our obedience to Almighty God.  It isn’t about “snakes.”  It is about bold and daring, self-abandoning worship.  It is about broad and effective service to our community in preaching the gospel in meaningful and powerful ways.  It is about a bold willingness to sacrifice whatever it takes to give others the opportunity to hear the gospel.  Bold and daring worship; bold and daring service; bold and daring sacrifice.  That’s the kind of gospel preaching that will be followed by “signs and wonders” this world could not imagine.

Friends, we need some snake handlers! Not handling the slithering, scaly kind, but a “snake handler” type of faith that is “bold and daring.” Whatever snakes come—and they will—cannot harm us when we are on mission with God!

Let’s join together today making a decision to become a more “bold and daring” church. , . . .  Now, pass me a rattle snake.

  

Living FOR the Future . . . Again!

 

January 2, 2022         NOTES NOT EDITED
Living for the Future
Philippians 3:20-4:9

SIS: We can either “fight the future” or “fight FOR the future.”

There are two things I’m quite sure of:  one, the future is coming whether we like it or not. Time marches on, whatever time is, and time has confused men of such intellect as Albert Einstein. So, buckle-up buttercup, the future’s a’comin’.

The second thing I know about the future I learned from my favorite philosophers.  In one of the many brilliant things he never said, Yogi Berra said, “The future sure ain’t what it used to be.”

The future has always been an “incalculable quantity.”  In these Crazy Days of Covid, the uncertainty index has risen to stratospheric levels—partly due to the uncertainty of life itself, but compounded by the lying and maneuvering of politicians and profiteers who see a crisis as a means to move their own personal agendas forward.

Whatever the future may or may not be . . . it WILL BE!  We must face it.  We must also choose HOW we will face it.  Will we “fight AGAINST it, or will we fight FOR it?”  Will we fight the future so trying to preserve the past?  That is the typical point of view of most people—preserve the past; seek the “Good Ole Days.”

However, if we choose to “fight the future to preserve the past,” we will be as curious folk as the Amish who have chosen to remain frozen in the in the mid1800’s.  We will be like those people in my hometown who continued to invest in the Buggy Whip Factory even as the Model T’s were rolling steadily off the assembly lines.  Or, we could be like Cuba, that has been stuck in the 50’s for over half a century.  When we FIGHT the future—we lose. 

We need to put aside the Pollyannish naivete of Doris Day and her song:  Que Sera, Sera—Whatever Will Be, Will Be.  It is strange that this song is seen by many as a “positive approach leading to a carefree life.”  It was actually the hit song from a suspense thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock in which the son of Doris Day’s character is kidnapped.  The “future will be . . . but WHAT it will be can greatly be influenced by God’s people.  Otherwise, the Lord’s admonition to pray, “God’s Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven,” (Mat. 6) would be a fool’s errand.

This was a great song and rose to the top of the charts winning an Academy Award for Best Song in 1956.  The song may have been great musically, but it is a bust as a philosophy of life.  The future is NOT fixed—it is NOT determined, even though God already knows everything that is going to happen. This is a philosophical quandary that continues to baffle theologians and philosophers—is life a matter of free will and real choices, or is it fixed and determined by an “IMMUTABLE” plan of God? 

Accepting the future as fixed in every detail and something one must just surrender to is the doctrine of  FATE, not FAITH!

The Bible does not suggest such a passive surrender to the future.  In many places the Bible shows that our CHOICES really matter and our future is not determined by BLIND FATE but by REASONED FAITH.  We can prepare for the FUTURE.  We are instructed to prepare for the future.  The Bible speaks of God “changing His mind” because of the prayers of His people.  We don’t have to be able to explain this inexplicable phenomenon—we just have to believe it.

Que Sera Sera as a philosophy of life is, So Wrong, So Wrong.  Our choices matter.  We can affect the future—we must affect the future.  The souls of lost people are at stake depending upon how we as God’s people follow the leading of God’s Spirit and carry on the plan for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Much of what is coming in the future is NOT going to be good—in fact, it may be worse, indeed WILL be worse, than anything we have faced in the past or present—but, “fighting the future is a losing proposition,” as much as investing in buggy whips was a losing proposition as the automobile rolled onto our streets.

What we MUST do is “fight FOR the future.” Our battle is to continue to live out the prayer the Lord taught us to pray:

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on EARTH as it is in heaven.” (Mt. 6:10)

It does not matter how much change future brings—good, bad, or ugly—the mission of God’s people NEVER changes.  We must march into the future seeking to fight “for” God’s will to be done.

Every year for nearly half a century now, I’ve preached on how to prepare for “Living In the New Year—that is Living Boldly in the Future.” So, I’ve simply added a word this year to emphasize that while the date on the calendar changes—our mission as a church NEVER changes.  Today, let’s read our text and think about, “Living FOR the Future—AGAIN!”

A few years ago, 1985 to be exact, a movie came out that was very exciting and fun entitled, "Back to the Future."  Michael J. Fox plays an adolescent boy named Marty Mcfly who mistakenly gets catapulted into the past in a winged-door, stainless steel Delorean -- do you remember those? Time travel creates a lot of interesting scenarios for Marty McFly--not all of them good.  By going into the past, Marty McFly almost destroys even the possibility of his existence.  He has to find a way out of the past and into the future "Back to the Future."  Looking back is ALWAYS a losing proposition.

Think about the idea of eternity for a second.  Is there any other idea or concept (outside of God, Himself) that is so immense and so important?  The Bible teaches that our attitudes and actions in the present have consequences - some of them eternal consequences.  It seems in light of the fact we will spend a few years here on earth but a "gazillion" years in eternity, I think we should really consider deeply the way we are living our lives.

Like Marty McFly, we can get stuck in the past and not only will that paralyze our present, it will jeopardize our future. We have to find a way to break free of the past and live for the future.  Like, Marty McFly, we need to discover a way to escape from the past.  To help us think about this, let's watch how McFly gets, "back to the future."

SIS: To fight FOR the future instead of fighting the future, we need to “see the future with new eyes.”

1.  We need a New View of POLITICS (3:20-21)

I mention this first not because it is most important, but because it is most “obvious.”  Politics simply refers to how we live and interact with people, including government but not limited to it. 

20 but our citizenship [politics, politeuma] is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious  body,  by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself. 

For many people -- perhaps most of us to some degree -- "politics" is a dirty word, a dirty business.  Politicians promise us "hope and change" and leave us on the street corner hopeless and begging for change.

Modern Politics has become consumed by a lust for power and completely out of touch with morality.

A little girl was sitting with her Dad while he was watching some political talk show on T.V.  The Dad was engrossed in his political program.  The little girl was more interested in the Fairy Tale book she had on her lap.  At one moment the little girl asked innocently, "Daddy, do all fairy tales begin with 'Once upon a time'?"  The Dad was also engrossed in his political talk show and answered, "No dear, some fairy tales begin with the words, 'If I am elected.'"

Politics simply refers to “engaging people in the public square.”  For far too many years now, the church in America has been in retreat.  When the Moral Majority, led by Jerry Falwell and others for about 12 years from 1976 to 1988, fell of the monopoly board of the political arena, the church has been in retreat—and sadly, even in the heyday of political engagement of the Moral Majority and other populace, conservative, and Christian movements, most of the church continued to retreat.

Long ago, about half a century ago now, the church retreated from the messy, chaotic, noisy streets of our cities into the tree-lined solace of the suburbs.  The church “cut-off engagement with the cities” precisely at a time when the cities needed the church most.  Even great churches like the Church of the Open Door that hosted great preachers like R.A. Torrey, shuttered their downtown presence and moved to the suburbs. So, when the church stopped engaging with “people in the cities” (politics) the cities have become the godless, urine soaked, tent-lined hovels they are today.

We need to CHANGE OUR VIEW of politics—how we engage with people in the public square if we want to “fight FOR the future and not AGAINST it only.” Three principles should kind our participation:
1) God is ALWAYS in control; 2) we are called to SAVE SOULS, not save a political system; and 3) sin is always the main problem.

People often ask me, "What political party are you a member of?"  I'm no longer comfortable with either party.  While I believe we must stay engaged in the political process as believers, I believe we need to break free from being absolutely identified with any political party.  We need "new politics" to fit our "new citizenship." 

As Christians, our common beliefs and practices should not be dictated by any political party, but should be dictated by Heaven and Her King, Jesus Christ. We need to vote according to Scripture, not according to some political “talking points.”

But, make no mistake about this at all: Christians must get a “new view of politics” so we can fight FOR a future that is more Godly, more civil, more kind, and more free.

2.  We also need a New View on PRAYING (4:6-7)

The Lord is near.  6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

I have become absolutely convinced of two facts:  1)  Prayer is URGENT and 2) EFFECTIVE.  

A.  PRAYER IS URGENT

Look at how Phil.4:5 ends:  “The Lord is near.”  You could translate that, “Time is running out.”  If the church is ever going to “get right we must pray right, and we need to get started RIGHT NOW!”

What grieves me most about the life I’ve lived as a believer for now going on five decades, is that I’ve failed in the area of prayer.

Don’t misunderstand me:  I pray a lot!  I’m pretty sure I pray much more than the typical church goer, though I don’t know how to prove it and I’m sure I don’t want to prove it.  I don’t say I pray more to be boastful, because it is like an able-bodied athlete winning a race against bunch of one-legged pirates.  What I know about my prayer for sure is that I don’t pray enough and I don’t pray effectively enough.

And . . . I know why people don’t pray more.  We don’t feel a sense of urgency.  Recall the end of Phil. 4:5:  “The Lord is near.”  This throws up a red flag of urgency—time is running out!  This phrase draws the picture of a “crisis.” When a crisis hits, just listen to the people pray.  You will hear many, “Oh, my God’s” when the proverbial waste material hits the spinning blades of a cooling device.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR THIS WORLD!  The contractions of the birth pangs of God’s judgement are getting closer together and more intense. 

Mat 24:8:  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains

1Thess 5:3:  While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman.

Rev. 12:1-2:  And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.

Over and over the Bible warns of the “urgency” we need to have as we see the End Coming, and compares this coming crisis as “the contractions of a woman about to give birth.”  All the issues we see today from Covid to the Chaos in the economy, and other crises around the world are signaling the soon coming of the Lord Jesus.  We need to be urgent in our prayers to put us in a place to “bring God’s will to bear on earth.”  Fighting FOR the future requires we fight on our knees in urgent prayer.

For one, I know that a right view of prayer is to see it as an “urgent” undertaking as time is running out for this world. 

B.  Second, I know that prayer is EFFECTIVE. 

Listen to James 5:16^CSB:  The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

Literally, this passage says that prayer “applies a very powerful energy or force to the situation.”  I must confess, I don’t always see this force applied immediately to every situation about which I have prayed.  For example, “I once prayed very fervently for my brother to be healed of a serious liver disease.”  He died a few days later.  What good did my prayer do? I must confess, I DON’T KNOW!  All I know is what God’s Word promises, “prayer applies a VERY powerful force to any given situation.” 

Now, that is either true or it is false.  Prayer is either a powerful force or just a powerful waste of time.  The Scripture doesn’t leave any room for a middle ground.  Prayer is either EFFECTIVE, or it is not.  So, here’s the logical conclusion from the two alternatives.  If I pray and it is nothing but a wishful, empty religious practice, nothing will happen.  If prayer is a very powerful force applied to a given situation and I pray, something WILL happen.  My responsibility is to PRAY, and let God take care of the details.

If we have any desire whatsoever to “fight for the future,” we need a

RIGHT VIEW OF PRAYER and need to fight on our knees.

Fighting FOR the future requires a New View of politics, a new view of prayer and

3.  a New View on How We Should Think (4:8)

Staying here in Chapter 4 of Philippians we read:

8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,  whatever is just,  whatever is pure,  whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence  and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.

The language at the end of this verse is very descriptive and well-chosen by the Holy Spirit.  It is a “Purple Cow” linguistically.  What is a “purple cow?”  Well, suppose you are driving out in the country and in field after field you see black and white spotted cows.  You see literally hundreds of these farm creatures as natural to the landscape as the green grass and rolling hills.  You see so many during your drive, you stop even noticing them.  Then, you spot a “Purple Cow” in the field.  You quickly turn your head for a second look.  If you are driving you might even slam on the brakes, jump out of the car, grab your iPhone and snap a picture.  A “Purple Cow” would be so different it would capture your attention.

That’s what happens here at the end of the text.  The word translated in the CSB as “dwell” or in most other translations as, “think” is a “Purple Cow.”  It is not the word you’d expect, and it is formed in such a way as to be intense.  It is a linguistic purple cow.

The word is:  logizesthe.  It means to think seriously in a logical way about a matter.  It requires effort and consistency.  If you have ever studied logic, you know how exacting and exhausting it can be.  That’s what it takes to gain, “Right Thinking.”

During the formative years of my ministerial training, a man with the strange name, "Zig Ziglar," held audiences both secular and sacred, spellbound by his whimsical words of wisdom.  Zig Ziglar was, and still is, a master motivator with a solid relationship with Jesus Christ.  Well into his 80’s, he still tought a Sunday School class at a mega-church in Dallas, TX.  He is the author of over 25 books, 10 of which were best sellers.

His motivation speeches are sermons without all the Scripture references.  One of the phrases that has always stuck with me over years was, "We must eliminate stinkin' thinkin'.  Zig Ziglar defined stinkin' thinkin' as negative, defeatest, worldly thinking.  Zig advocates a "heavenly way" of thinking--a Right Way of Thinking.  The kind of thinking described in 4:8:

It is so hard to "dwell on heavenly things."  We live in a world full of negative sounds, negative circumstances, and negative people.  Trying to eliminate stinkin' thinkin' from a human standpoint is like trying to sanitize a pig sty.  Even if you could manage to get is looking and smelling better, it wouldn't be long before it was once again smelling bad.

The word translated "dwell on" (HCSB) means to "deliberate about, or to think deeply about," as I just said. We might even say contemplate.  The idea is to take time and effort to align yourself with God's thoughts, not the world's thoughts.  The only way to do that is to "get into the Word of God and remain there."  The word says,

John 15:7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 

Dwell on the words, "whatever you want," for a moment.  That's some powerful incentive it seems to me for beginning to "think God's thoughts after Him."  In fact, "thinking like God" is the very basis for all the historic breakthroughs in modern science.

Joseph Kepler, a Father of Modern Astronomy said to him science was "Thinking God's thoughts after Him."

Right politics.  The Right Way of Praying.  The Right way of Thinking all begin to orient us to "Fighting FOR the future, not AGAINST it.”

The Word also says we need the

4.  The Right Way of LIVING to prepare us for the future (4:9) 

9 Do what you have learned. 

I don't think Paul could sum up the matter much more succinctly than this:  "Do what you have learned."

The NIV says, "Put it into practice."

From beginning to end, the Bible admonishes us to conform our behavior to God's standards.  Simply knowing of or thinking about what God has instructed us does not substitute for "doing it." 

James 1:22-25 sums up the matter like this:

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; 24 for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts—this person will be blessed in what he does. 

All of the "Right Thinking" in the world will be of little or no eternal value unless it results in "Right Living."  This does not contradict the doctrine of "salvation by grace alone through faith alone."  No, this verifies the power of God's grace. 

A grace that does not lead to Right Living is the wrong kind of grace, and in a biblical sense, no grace at all.  The saving kind of grace always leads to "Right Living."  Perhaps not "perfectly right," but definitely oriented to right living.

I heard the story about a Christian college choir which was all set to present a concert in a large church which was to be carried live by a local radio station. When everything appeared to be ready, the announcer made his final introduction and waited for the choir director to begin. A tenor was not yet ready, however, so the director refused to raise his baton. All this time, nothing but silence was being broadcast. Growing very nervous, the announcer, forgetting that his microphone was still on and that he could be heard in the church and on the air, said in exasperation, "Get on with it, you old goat!"

Later in the week, the radio station got a letter from one of its listeners -- a man who had tuned in to listen to the music from the comfort of his easy chair. When he heard "Get on with it, you old goat!" he took the message personally. He had been doing nothing to further God’s work, and this startling message was enough to convict him and get him going again.

Sometimes we need a wake-up call, don’t we? Maybe you’ve received that call this morning and God is saying to you, "Get on with it, you old goat...or young goat." It is time to act.  We cannot afford to sit comfortably in our "Religious Lazy Boy" while the world dies and goes to hell.

Well, one would think that having the right politics, the right way of praying, the right way of thinking, and the right way of living, would certainly be enough to prepare one for "eternity that waits just beyond death's door."  But, there's more.  To fully prepare to "Live for the Future," we need the

5.  Right Way of Dying (3:18-19; 4:3)

Pay close attention to verses 18-19, of chapter 3:

18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross  of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory  is in their shame. 

I can feel the pain in Paul's voice when he speaks these words.  They are hard words to hear.  The end of a person who does not surrender to Jesus as the Lord of Life is "destruction and shame."

I see evidence everywhere I go of "destruction and shame" -- which so often go together.  I see marriages being destroyed by infidelity or apathy.  I see young lives being destroyed by drugs and alcohol.  I see our nation being destroyed by avarice and greed.  I see our government being destroyed by corruption and lusts for power.  Destruction is all about us.  People are being dragged down into the abyss -- the pit from which the Beast of the Tribulation will arise:

Rev. 17:8  Why are you astounded? I will tell you the secret meaning  of the woman and of the beast, with the seven heads and the 10 horns, that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss  and go to destruction.

 A few chapters later the Beast is mentioned again: 

19:20 . . . the beast and those who worshiped his image.  Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.  

Then after the final judgment, Destruction (Apollyon)
is mentioned again, 

Rev. 20:13 Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades  gave up their dead; all  were judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. 

People who don't die right, face a horrible eternity in a Lake of Fire where their destruction and shame becomes an eternal state.  The thought of such a destruction and shame facing those who do not find the Right Way of Dying, drove Paul to tears.

What is the Right Way of Dying.  Phil. 4:3 lays it out as simply as possible:

3 Yes, I also ask you, true partner,  to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names are in the book of life. 

The Right Way of Dying simply means that we have our names recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life.  That means we have surrendered to Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives.  By this single act of commitment, we are ready to "Live for the Future" because we have found the Right Way of Dying.

Oh, dear friends, so much more could be said in regard to "Living for the Future."  Like Marty McFly, we need to escape the past and get to the future.  Whatever sins held us back in the past year, we need to confess them and let them go. 

We can either choose to fight AGAINST the future and succeed at being greatly disappointed, or we can fight FOR the future and succeed greatly!  Let’s choose the latter!

Climb into the Delorean -- let's head back to a fantastic future!

 

He Grew Up

 January 2, 2022     NOTES NOT EDITED

He Grew Up
Luke 2:40-50

 

SIS – If we claim we are followers of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ grew in His faith, we should be growing in ours.

If you live long enough, you will get older.  I remember once that a elderly gentleman received a call from one of his elderly lady friends. She said, “I just got this great new puzzle and would love for you to come over and help me put it together.”  She continued saying, “The picture on the box says the puzzle is a rooster.”  The elderly gentleman replied, “OK. I’ll be right over.  That sounds like fun.”  The gentleman arrived at his lady friend’s house and knocked on the door.  She answered and greeted him with a smile.  She led or gentleman friend to the kitchen table and said, “I poured all the pieces out on the table.”  The elderly gentleman scanned all the pieces spread out on the table.  Looking at the box the puzzle pieces came in, he said, “Margaret, no matter how hard we try, we are never going to get these pieces to look like the rooster on the box.” He gently took the hand of his elderly lady friend and continued by saying, “Let’s just relax and have a cup of tea together.  Then, we an put all these Corn Flakes back in the box.”

Every New Year we celebrate marks one more year of life.  If we continue to celebrate these New Years, will we grow “older and wiser,” or just get “older?”  That’s the real issue at stake today. 

Most people never get past Christmas.  They meet Jesus in the manger, but He never grows up in their story.  He remains the vulnerable, innocent, non-threatening babe that that gives us warm fuzzy feelings.  We can manage the babe in the manger, and He doesn’t challenge the worldliness in our lives.

The Manger Scene, however, is the beginning of the story, not the end.  And, the child grew (v40).  Let’s read about the growth of Jesus, from birth to age 12, and beyond.

Luke 2:39–40 (CSB) ³⁹ When they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him. 

Then, remain standing as we encounter the only mention of Jesus as a young boy.  He is 12 years old.  As was the family’s custom of devotion, they travelled each year to Jerusalem to observe the mandatory celebration of Passover.  During the journey back home with the large travelling party, it was discovered that Jesus was missing.  This was uncharacteristic of Jesus and cause for some alarm.  We pick up the story at this point:

Luke 2:44–52 (CSB)  ⁴⁴ Assuming he was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶ After three days, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all those who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” ⁴⁹“Why were you searching for me?” he asked them. “Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he said to them. ⁵¹ Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. 

For me, the most significant words in the Nativity Story are the summary word in verse 40 ^(NIV84) 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. 

Let those words sink in for a minute.  Our grammar teachers drilled into many of us that we should never start a sentence with, “and.”  Greek knows no such grammatical rule.  In fact, the little word, “and” (de in Greek), begins many, many sentences in the New Testament.  It sometimes has more significance that at other times.  Often the little word, and, introduces an event one would normally take for granted but the writer wants to show it has literary significance. The event or circumstance introduced by “de” is something someone would normally expect to follow what had been said.  In this sense you could translate Luke 2:40 as:  “And, of course, Jesus grew up.”

The natural course of life is to “grow up” and mature.  This is true both physically and spiritually.  If we apply these words to our own Christian lives after being born-again we would say, “And, of course we are growing in the Lord.”  But . . . are we REALLYGROWING IN THE LORD?  That is the question of the hour. 

So often, however, in the case of far too many Christians, this is not the case.  Most Christians do NOT grow up.  They remain babies in Christ that never get past the “milk of the Word” or the “elementary principles of Christian living.”  Paul states the matter like this:

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 ^(NIV84)  1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 

Paul further clarifies what scholars now call the “juvenilization of Christianity” in Hebrews 6:1:

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.

Please know that I don’t want to be harsh with this message.  This can easily offend us if our goal in life is to “pack up baby Jesus and store Him away for another year.”  That’s exactly what too many of us have done for too long.  Most of us have fallen far, far short of where we should be at this stage in our Christian life.

This is a New Year.  It is a clean slate, so to speak.  Today is Day 1—actually 2, but that’s close enough.  We can start today “growing up in our faith” and become responsible, effective, Christian adults.  
Jesus grew up in His faith in four significant ways, and is Our Model for how we can—and MUST—grow up in faith in this New Year.

1.  He grew in the POWER of His faith (v40a,b,c)

⁴⁰ The boy grew up and became strong

Jesus was a powerful man Œ physically. I remember the vivid images of Mel Gibson’s blockbuster movie, “The Passion of the Christ.”  Particularly vivid—and bloody—is the scene where Jesus is led to the Roman courtyard to be flogged—or beaten.  The technical term is scourging.  It was often done to prisoners that were condemned to die.  Usually, the scourging was so brutal that the prisoner died before the Romans had a chance to crucify them.  Jesus did not die from the scourging that was so brutal scholars believe it exposed His internal organs.  Yet, Jesus still took the heavy crossbeam of His cross and carried it a great distance to the cross, before collapsing under its weight, when a man named, Simon the Cyrene, was commanded to carry it the rest of the way.  But, Jesus still got to His feet and walked to Golgotha.  Jesus was a powerful man physically.  He walkedeverywhere He went.  He spent long hours ministering to peoples’ needs.  He was a powerful man, physically.

Jesus was a powerful man  intellectually. Notice our verse again.

⁴⁰ The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom

Jesus never attended college.  He never wrote a book.  He only lived to on this earth 33 years—30 of them in total obscurity—yet even people with no religious persuasion at all know His teachings.  The Sermon on the Mount is one of the highest forms of prose in any language of any time.  The Lord’s parable of the Prodigal Son is known by people in every corner of the world.  If one reads the words of Jesus, one is struck by His wisdom in the same way that the Jewish police force were struck by His speaking.  On one occasion, the teaching of Jesus had created such a public commotion that the Temple Police were dispatched to bring Jesus before the Jewish tribunal of Scribes and Pharisees.  Here’s what happened,

⁴⁵ Then the temple police came to the chief priests  and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why haven’t you brought Him?” ⁴⁶ The police answered, “No man ever spoke like this!” (Jn. 7:45-46)

The words of the Lord demonstrate a strong mind bolstered by a strong character.  Jesus grew up into an intellectually powerful man.

Jesus was a powerful man Ž spiritually.  We read on in our verse:

⁴⁰ The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, 
and God’s grace was on Him.

That’s the real source of the Lord’s strength.  He was physically powerful and intellectually powerful, but most importantly, He was spiritually powerful.  His power was fueled by God’s grace and the partnership Jesus had with the Holy Spirit. As a man just like us, Jesus enjoyed the favor of God which was the source of His strength.

Jesus grew up into became a powerful Man of faith by growing strong physically, intellectually, and spiritually.

2.  He grew in the PRACTICE of His faith (39, 41)

³⁹ When they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth
…………………….
⁴¹ Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival

I’m sure you have heard the old adage, “Practice makes perfect.”  Well, like so many such aphorisms, there is as much falsehood or truth in the statement.  Practice does indeed make perfect if what you are practicing is perfect and you are perfectly practicing it.  Otherwise, it is more accurate to state the matter in this manner, “Practice makes permanent.”  Practice transforms a behavior into a natural process.  This is why athletes are able to perform as if it takes not effort at all.  The effort comes from endless hours of difficult practice that makes the skills they practice second nature—or even first nature for that matter.  They become what they do.
This applies also to spiritual growth.  Jesus grew up in the faith by practicing the disciplines of the faith.  He became a prayerwarrior by praying.  He became a Scriptural scholar by studying.  He became a master evangelist by preaching. Jesus practiced the principles of His Jewish faith.  One such principle was to faithfully go to Jerusalem [worship] to observe three feasts each year as commanded in Scripture—the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Passover, and the Feast of Pentecost.  Jesus never missed one of these feasts.  He was a devout son of a devout stepfather and devout mother.  Faith is not simply an idea.  Faith is a practice. The more you practice the disciplines of faith like praying, Bible study, fellowship, and evangelism, the more these disciplines become a part of your nature.

According to one sports article, a typical pro athlete trains about 5-6 hours a day 6 days a week.  They are already professional athletes.  Professional basketball players already have the skills needed to play basketball.  Professional football players already have the skills to play football.  This is true of every professional athlete in every sport.  So, why do they practice so many hours each day?  They practice so that playing is a part of their nature.  Kobe Bryant didn’t have to think about how to shoot a basketball, it is a part of who he is.  Tiger Woods doesn’t have to figure out how to hit a golf ball a gazillian yards, it’s who he is. Practice makes something a part of our nature.

This is even more true in spiritual matters than any other endeavor.  Playing basketball or football or fooseball are human endeavors.  Praying, studying the Bible, worshipping in church, and sharing the gospel are eternal matters.  We become more and more mature as we practice the disciplines of the faith. 

3.  He grew in the PROCLAMATION of His faith (46-50)

⁴⁶ After three days, they found Him in the temple complex sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all those who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”  ⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”  ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what He said to them.

You will notice how Jesus was growing spiritually.  He loved learning about the things of God.  “He was listening and asking questions.”  His pursuit of knowledge paid off.  Notice that in this passage Jesus goes from a passive position to actively sharing His faith.  We are watching him mature and grew up before our eyes. Verse 47 says:

⁴⁷ And all those who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers.

I have known people who have had massive amounts of Bible knowledge—many having much more knowledge of the Bible and theology than I have.  I know a man who practically has the entire Bible memorized.  This is a great and wonderful thing; however, it serves no eternal purpose whatsoever if one never shares one’s knowledge of the Lord with others—and I mean particularly, others who are not saved.  

The very people Jesus was speaking to were Jewish leaders and scholars—experts in the Scripture—but, they had no idea it was the Son of God speaking to them.  

One application I draw from this passage is that the “gospel is given to us so that we can pass it on to others.”  Jesus spent three years teaching, preaching, and ministering to the masses.  The proclamation of the gospel was a huge part of His earthly ministry.  He spent three years proclaiming the message of redemption.  His death, burial and resurrection was the culmination of three years of His preaching—and over three thousand years of God’s prophets proclaiming His coming as the Messiah.  Proclamation of the gospel is a very significant part of what it means to “grow up in our faith.”  I DON’T THINK I NEED TO REMIND US—WE NEED TO SHARE THE GOSPEL MORE!

Look at verse 50, “they did not understand what He said to them.” When we regularly share our faith, more people will fail to understand, or even misunderstand us, than will understand.  Jesus didn’t stop sharing though many opposed Him and rejected His message.  We should never stop sharing either.  

We see evidence of Jesus’ spiritual growth in the power He had physically, intellectually, and spiritually.  We see the spiritual growth of the Lord in how He practiced the disciplines of the faith.  We see Jesus growing in the proclamation of the gospel about Who He is and what He came to do.  Power, Practice, and Proclamation are all indicators of spiritual growth modeled in the life of Our Lord.  But, the most significant indicator of the Lord’s growth in His faith in the Father’s plan comes when we see 

4.  The PRICE He Paid for His Faith (41)

⁴¹ Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival

Christmas is quaint, but it is Easter makes saints.  Nobody was saved when Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem.  The price that was paid for our salvation happened on a cross at Calvary.

Jesus perfectly fulfilled the will of His Father because Jesus was willing to pay whatever the price was for obedience.  And . . . it was a steep price to pay.  So heavy was the price Jesus would have to pay to be faithful to His Father, that Jesus actually sweat blood over it.  We read: Being in anguish, He prayed more fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground (Lk. 22:44)

Why did Jesus grow up so wonderfully to fulfill so perfectly His purpose in life?  He was a man, exactly like us in every way and with every temptation, but He “grew up” in a way that we simply do not—and are not—growing up.  Why?  Because He was willing to pay whatever price it would cost to be fully obedient to God.

Here’s the most important question you needs to answer as the New Year begins:  “Are you willing to pay whatever it costs to be obedient to God in 2022?”  This is a “yes or no” question. It will determine whether your discipleship is Christmas quaint or Easter saint!

Jesus held back nothing in His obedience.  He counted nothing in the world worthy to hold onto if it meant being disobedient—and that included even His life.  When Jesus died, He was naked and every last drop of blood was drained from His earthly body.  Jesus was completely consumed by His obedience to the point that all He had left was the favor or the Father, Who had declared at the baptism of His Son:  “this is my son in whom I am well pleased!” (Mt. 3:17)

We could be more like Jesus.  We SHOULD be more like Jesus! We could be more powerful in our faith if, we were willing to pay the PRICE that Jesus paid.  Jesus paid it all!  The Lord knew what His faith was going to cost Him.  He knows what our faith is going to cost us as His disciples.  He never painted a rosy picture of what it would mean to follow Him as His people in this world.  Jesus offered all would-be disciples full disclosure:

“If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself,  take up his cross daily,  and follow Me (Lk. 9:23).

The cross was a heavy price for Our Lord—it won’t be cheap for us!

Those four words stick in my mind as the page turns on a new calendar: “and, the child grew.”  The normal process following birth is, “growth.”  Otherwise, there is something terribly wrong.

Brooke Greenberg is the size of an infant, with the mental capacity of a toddler.   She died October 24, 2013, at the age of twentystill the size of a baby.  She still had her baby teeth.  She had the body of an 11 years old and mind of 2 years old. She was never diagnosed with any known genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormality that would help explain why.  Doctors have no explanation for why Brooke does not get older.  Constant reminders of Brooke’s failure to grow up are family pictures taken throughout the years in which everybody gets older, but Brooke.  The family loved her and her Mom once said, “We love her just the way she is.”  That is admirable and what I would expect a loving mother to say, but the fact remains, Brooke’s story is unique because, “children are expected to grow up.”

God expects His children to grow up, mature, and move beyond a juvenile expression of faith.  I wish I could tell you what you need to do, step by step, to mature in the faith.  It would take more than a sermon.  It would take a book . . . in fact, my best advice is that we start “applying what we read in God’s Book!”

I would love a “HAPPY” New Year.  More than a “happy” New Year, however, I long for a NEW year.  I don’t want to continue to practice the elementary principles of faith.  I don’t want to be controlled by the sinful nature.  I want to “grow up” in my faith, just like my Lord.

(Luke 2:40).  Isn’t it time we got serious about “growing up in our faith?”

PS:  THE HARD KNOCKS OF LIFE AND THE NEW YEAR

Even though throughout his life he had many adventurous escapades, Earnest Hemingway was a very sick man, and was beat-up physically. As well as his many car and plane crashes, he survived skin cancer, anthrax, malaria, dysentery, hepatitis, anemia, high blood pressure, a ruptured kidney, a ruptured spleen, a ruptured liver, pneumonia, a crushed vertebra, and a fractured skull.  Perhaps you feel you are entering 2022 beat up and battered by 2021.  If so, you are not alone.  Many others are fighting that same battle.  Moreso, you are not alone because Jesus is with you and His Holy Spirit walks beside you (Jn. 16:5-11).  Be of good cheer, “Christ has overcome the world!” (Jn. 16:33).