The Necessity of Christ

The contingency of our existence declares the providence of God.  Which one of us will grasp our next breath?  Who will produce global photosynthesis and provide the next meal?  Who will maintain our proper distance from the sun?  We are contingent beings, totally dependent upon God’s merciful provision for our being.  Acts 17:25 says, “God gives to all life, breath, and all things”  and verse 28, “in Him we live and move and have our being.”  Thomas Aquinas rightly noticed that the contingency of our existence cries out the necessity of God’s existence.  I would add that it also reveals to us God’s common grace.  He is gracious to send the rain upon the just and the unjust.  He is benevolent to grant us the ability to enjoy love, kindness, and beauty.  It would be logically absurd to deny the necessary existence of God, but I do not wish only to say that God exists.  The cry of the human heart does not stop there.  We need more.  Who will make God personal to us?  Who will comfort us in our times of sorrow?  Who will rescue us from the trouble sin delivers?  The Bible speaks without equivocation to these questions and so much more.  For Colossians 2:9 tells us, “For in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” and John 1:14 says, “And the Word (Christ, who is divine) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”  It does not require any great leap of faith to believe that God exists.  The eternally necessary question is this, “will you receive His grace and truth which comes only in the person of Jesus Christ?”

Facing Their Faces

The prophet Jeremiah lived in dark days.  His nation was largely in rebellion against God and His precepts.  The last thing they wanted to hear was someone declaring that they were wrong before God.  This is exactly what God called Jeremiah to declare.  Jeremiah knew the possible consequences he would face by speaking such an unpopular message, and he knew the fear of facing a rebellious crowd.  God comforted him with these words, “do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you.” (Jer. 1:8)  

Jeremiah became known as the “weeping prophet”.  He wept over the sins of his countrymen.  He wept over the impending judgment of God upon his nation.  But even his tears of sincerity would not turn back the sinful hearts of his friends and neighbors.  He faced their faces with tears in his eyes and pleaded with the people to cease calling that which was good evil, and that which was evil good.  How did Judah respond?  They attempted multiple times to kill him.

Jeremiah preached the importance of true worship instead of false religion.  He called for true social justice according the dictates of God’s word.  He proclaimed the importance of loyalty to God rather than alliances with the world.  Jeremiah’s message still rings true today.

We are a nation that has largely rejected God.  Our countrymen are attempting to offer new and acceptable definitions to those things which God has declared to be sinful.  Our cities and church gatherings are filled with false religion instead of true worship of the Holy One.  We have sought social equality in a way that rejects divine justice.  Our nation has emphasized likeness with the world over loyalty to the one true God.

The great need of the hour in America is people who are willing to stand and speak God’s word prophetically and lovingly.  Blessed be the ones who stand with an open Bible and tears in their eyes as they declare the timeless truth of the immutable God.  May we not be afraid of their faces, for the Lord is with us.  We will be held responsible for our faithfulness to do so and the people will be responsible for how they respond.

A Few Thoughts On Preaching Prophetically

To preach prophetically is to declare the truth of God with clarity and compassion.  One must speak forthrightly and make the truth plain while also extending the love of God to all.  Prophetic preaching is many times predictive in the same way that the prophets of old spoke with divine foresight.  I do not mean that we are to predict stock market crashes, earthquakes, or specific disasters of any kind.  We are to speak predictively the principles of reaping and sowing.  The Old Testament prophets did speak in ways of national and natural disaster, but under a divine inspiration that we do not today experience.  They were writing Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  We are to proclaim what has been written with careful attention not to add to nor take away from God's Word by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.  God says, "do this and you will blessed; don't do this or you will be cursed."  The predictive portion of our preaching should be in accord with these principles.
Beyond the definition of prophetic preaching it is also important to notice the compassion with which God's message should be delivered.  Jeremiah is known as the "weeping prophet" and Jesus "wept" over rebellious Jerusalem.  Divine warnings are intended to protect people from the destruction of sin and drive us to the grace of Christ.  We are to avoid preaching in unrighteous anger or even a righteous anger delivered in a hateful manner.  Our flesh sometimes camouflages the anger issue.  As one wise preacher once said to me, "You will never help people walk in the Spirit if you are in the flesh!"  God will bless the man who is faithful to expose the truths of Scripture with a passionate, "Thus saith the Lord."  But we also must remember the patience God extends to us every moment of every day.
I offer three precepts that have guided me well:
1.  Let the people plainly know God's truth.
2.  Let the people know you care.
3.  Let the people know challenges are real but God is faithful.
While I studied at Southwestern Seminary I sat under the teaching of Dr. Raymond Spencer.  He is now at home with the Lord but his words echo in my mind weekly.  He once said to me, "The people need to know the heart of a pastor so they may hear the thunder of a prophet."  May we do this to glory of God and the edification of the saints.

What Happens When We Die?

What Happens When We Die?

It is one of the major questions asked in this life.  Every persons wonders.  Every person will know.  What happens when the last breath leaves the body?  We see the body of another, cold and dead, but where is his soul?  What happens when we die?  The Bible speaks very clearly on this issue of utmost importance.  God, who not only inhabits eternity, but also rules over it, distinguishes between those who are His followers and those who are not.  The eternal destiny of His children is different than that of those who continue in their rebellion against Him.  Every person who comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ enjoys eternal life whereas those who do not...will not.  The one who receives the saving work of Christ by faith is promised eternal glory, victory, and joy.  The one who rejects salvation through faith in Christ also has eternal existence but it is everlasting death, torment, and suffering.  The Bible delineates the difference in the following ways.

First, eternity for the believer in Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:8 says, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”   The human constitution exists of body and soul.  Upon death the body of a child of God is placed in the grave but the soul goes to heaven into the presence of the Lord.  Our bodies return to the dust from which we came and it is a humble reminder of the brevity of life on earth.  Immediately our souls are brought into the presence of our glorified God just as Jesus promised the thief on the cross, “today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)  The Psalmist anticipated the same eternal destiny in Psalm 73:24, “You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”   The Apostle Peter comforted believers with the promise of “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:4)  At the end of his life, Paul excitedly looked forward to his life after death in which he anticipated a “crown of righteousness laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me.” (2 Timothy 4:8)  As Jesus stood at the tomb and wept over the death of His friend Lazarus, He spoke to the assembled crowd and said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though He may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25)  After that statement He called Lazarus out of the grave.  But this is not all for the follower of Christ.             

The Bible also speaks of a day of resurrection.  This is the time in which our bodies will be gloriously reunited with our souls in a resurrected state.  The soul of a believer lives in Heaven with God until the day that Jesus comes again.  When Jesus comes again the body of the Christian will be resurrected to live in a glorified and perfected state forever.  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  Paul continues in verse 18 by saying that we should comfort each other with these words of hope, knowing that we will one day be completely victorious over sin and the grave by the power of Christ.  Even in the ancient writings of Job we find that he had the same hope of resurrection.  Job 19:25-26 says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.”  The Bible speaks repeatedly of a glorious day in which the body and soul of every follower of Christ will be perfected in righteousness and the great enemies of humanity, namely sin and death, will be ultimately defeated.

Second, eternity for those who do not believe in Christ.  Hell is the eternal dwelling place of every person that does not receive the work that Jesus accomplished in His death on the cross.  He died to receive the judgment we deserve for the sin that we have committed against the holy God.  Any person who refuses the truth of His saving work will stand on his own before God’s holy justice.  The non-believer has no mediator, no one to receive his judgment, other than himself.  John 3:36 states, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”  The one who does not believe in the Son of God also has the human constitution of body and soul.  This person’s body will also be returned to the ground when he dies.  But his soul will not go to Heaven, it will go to Hell.  2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 says all of those who “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will be punished with everlasting destruction.”  Jesus said in Matthew 25:41 that He will say to those who did not serve Him by serving others in need, “Depart from Me, you cursed (ones), into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” and in verse 46 they “will go away into everlasting punishment.”  When Jesus described the final judgment of God, He said that sinners will be “cast into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:42, 50)  Jesus described Hell in His story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16.  When the Rich Man died he went to Hell.  It is a place of “torment” and “flame” (vs. 24, 25, 28) with eternal consequence and no way out, for there is a “great gulf fixed” which “no one can pass” (vs. 26).  Psalm 9:17 states very plainly what happens to the wicked when they die, “The wicked shall be turned into hell.”

The coming day of resurrection is for everyone.  Resurrection for the believer in Christ is perfection and glory.  Resurrection for the non-believer is torment and shame.  Daniel 12:2 communicates this truth, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.”  Every individual body will be reunited with every individual soul and will dwell in this state for all eternity.  Jesus spoke of this great event to be fulfilled when He comes again in John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

The Apostle Paul cherished this truth as he declared in Acts 24:15, “I have hope in God...that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”

The soul of the person who dies in Christ will go to Heaven.  The soul of the person who dies without Christ will go to Hell.  Each person will be reunited with their body at the time of Christ’s return in the event of resurrection.  The body and soul of the person in Christ will rule and reign for all eternity with God in their glorified and perfected state.  The body and soul of the person without Christ will exist in perpetual pain, torment, and shame in Hell.  The final chapters of the Bible summarize these truths.  Revelation 20 says that the Devil will be cast into the lake of fire and will be “tormented day and night forever and ever.”  (vs. 10) And “anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”  This is what happens to those who die without Jesus.  Revelation 21 says God will “make all things new” (vs. 5) for the Christian and “He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.  And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain.” (vs. 3-4)  This is what happens to those who die with Jesus.

Is Jesus The Only Way To God?

Is Jesus The Only Way To God?

It sounds like a very narrow statement to say that nobody can know God unless they come to Him through Jesus Christ, and indeed this statement excludes many.  Are Christians being unfairly exclusive to make such a claim?  Is this a statement of arrogance from elitist Christians or is it the truth of God?

If Christians believed that faith in Christ is the only way to God and they refused to share that with others then we would certainly have a clear example of spiritual arrogance.  However, while Christians believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to God they do not believe that this faith is not available for others.  The same people who are accused of narrow-minded arrogance are the same people who give freely of their resources for the sake of others.  Followers of Christ give time, money, even their lives so that others may hear this message of good news.  It is precisely because of Christian love for others and concern for their eternal destiny that we strive to be the hands of God’s grace working among humanity with this message of reconciliation for all peoples.

This statement of exclusivity is not initiated by some group of Christian elitists but is the clear testimony of Scripture:

• Acts 4:12 states, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  After having been arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus and then released, Peter and John were told by the Sanhedrin that they must cease proclaiming the message of Christ.  Peter responds with this statement of deepest conviction by saying that he could not be silenced regarding Jesus because there is no other name in all the universe by which men can be saved other than the name of Jesus.  This deep and cherished belief eventually cost Peter his life as he died a martyr’s death for the sake of the gospel.  The great apostle recognized that only Jesus had paved the way to God and only faith in Him could save men from their sins.
• 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”  The word “mediator” means one who works for the sake of two parties to bring peace and restoration to a broken relationship.  This is exactly what Jesus has done in His sacrificial death on the cross.  We were separated from God because of our own personal rebellion against His commands.  The relationship between God and humanity was severed and in need of a mediator.  The Bible says Jesus has come to provide that mediation and all who receive His peacemaking work by faith are restored to a right relationship with God.
• 1 John 2:23 states, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”  The Bible clearly explains in this passage that there is an indivisible union between knowing God the Father and Jesus.  To deny the Son of God (Jesus) is to not have the Father but to acknowledge (know, receive) the Son is to also know the Father.  The plain truth of this text is that there is no way to know God without knowing Jesus.
• John 14:6 may be the most convincing verse of all regarding the exclusivity of Christ.  It states, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  These words were originally written in the Greek language, which like English has a definite article (the) and two indefinite articles (a, an).  The method of using the indefinite articles (a, an) in Greek is to simply omit the definite article (the) which is the way this was written in the original text.  So to simplify the point let me say that Jesus could have easily said, “I am a way, a truth, a life.”  But He didn’t say that at all.  He said, “I am the way, the truth, the life.”  In other words Jesus said that He is the only way to God, the only truth of God, and the only life from God.  There is no way to God outside of Him.  And then to emphasize His point He adds another statement, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”    

Anyone can now see that the claim of Christians that Jesus is the only way to God is not a statement of elite narrow-mindedness invented by theologians but is the clear testimony of the Bible.  But does this simply transfer the blame of arrogance from Christians to Christ Himself?  Are Christians proclaiming a message of narrow arrogance or does Jesus have the right to claim that He is the only way to God?    

The credibility of Jesus is on trial by many but please consider the fact that Jesus lived a perfect life.  Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  Even the Roman centurion responsible for the crucifixion of Christ said, “certainly this was a righteous man.”  (Luke 23:47)  And there was also Pontius Pilate who officiated a trial immediately before the murder of Jesus who said, “I find no fault in Him.” (John 19:6).  Jesus speaks not only as a good moral teacher but also as the one man in history who fulfilled a perfect moral life in every point.  As the only sinless man to have ever lived His words are credible pertaining to the way to God.

Please also consider that Jesus died a perfect death.  2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us”.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “the LORD has laid on Him (Christ) the iniquity of us all”.  1 Peter 2:24 says that Jesus, “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” and “God set (Jesus) forth as a propitiation by His blood” in Romans 3:25.  Propitiation is a really nice word to explain that the wrath of the holy God has been appeased in the death of Jesus for all those who believe in Him.  We deserve judgment for our rebellion against God and the judgment we deserve has been poured out upon Jesus.  No other man in history has died as a substitute to save humanity from their sins.  Many teachers have offered profitable advice but no one has the credibility of Christ as Savior who died to save men.

There is also the historical fact that Christ rose from the dead.  They took His dead body off of the cross and buried him in the tomb of a wealthy man named Joseph.  It took several men to roll the large stone over the opening of that rock-hewn grave and they then placed the Roman seal over that stone to ensure uninterrupted protection of the site.  There were then Roman soldiers installed to guard the tomb.  This was on Friday evening and Saturday things remained the same.  But on Sunday morning something previously unknown to man miraculously occurred.  Jesus Christ rose from the dead and left that tomb empty.  The Jewish leaders bribed the guards and instructed them to say that Jesus‘ followers had stolen the body while they were sleeping.  But all they had to do to disprove the resurrection of Christ was provide His body, and they never could.  Then there were all of the hundreds and hundreds of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus alive after He very clearly had died and been buried.  All the opponents of Jesus need do then to disprove the resurrection of Christ was to coerce these witnesses into recanting their faith and profess they had lied.  Even in the most intense persecutions  and executions these martyrs went to their death professing Jesus is alive while praying for their persecutors.  Would you die for a lie?  I wouldn’t and neither did they.  The simple and miraculous truth is that Jesus rose from the dead and is today the living savior.  The unanimous profession of Christ’s followers was and still is, “He is risen!”  No other man has ever accomplished so much.  He lived a perfect life, died a perfect death, and rose from the dead.  Therefore He speaks with perfect credibility when He claims to be the only way to God.  Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

Why Go To Church With Hypocrites?

Why Go To Church With Hypocrites?

I am often confronted with this statement when visiting with unchurched people I know or meet.  It is a statement infused with much sentiment and I’m certain it seems to make sense to those people who draw upon it.  It normally goes something like this, “Why should I go to church when they are a bunch of hypocrites?”  I usually catch my friends by surprise when I agree with them.  My church is full of hypocrites and they are led by a hypocritical pastor!  Please allow me to explain.  My experience has proven to me that we are all hypocrites to some degree.  I do not always do what I should nor have I always fulfilled everything I have said I would.  It grieves me and I am terribly sorry for my lack of consistency.  And to this condition I must agree, I am somewhat of a hypocrite.  This is what I call honest hypocrisy.  I have realized enough about myself to know that I do not always practice what I preach.  I want to do so and I am striving to do so and by the help of God’s Spirit I do so much of the time, but sometimes I fail.  I am sorry.  But this is not the type of hypocrisy that most people object to, for every honest person will recognize their membership in this group.

It is outright and blatant hypocrisy to which people so stringently object.  It is a dishonest hypocrisy that does things in the darkness and lies about them in the light.  This is a problem that must be dealt with indeed.  So my response to those who object to hypocrisy in the church is to ask who these people are that are sinning so badly so we may pray for them and go confront them in love.  Surely we owe these people more than standing at a distance and throwing stones at them while their backs are turned.  And if we are not willing to go and lovingly confront someone who calls himself a brother in Christ but lives in outright disdain for the truth than we are not any better than they.  For Jesus says, “Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  (Matthew 7:5)  We are all hypocrites to some degree.  The difference between the honest, God-loving, God-fearing people in our churches who struggle with their hypocrisy and those who avoid church because they are supposedly avoiding other people’s hypocrisy is this:  honest struggle.  There may be some bad people who attend churches but they are certainly a minute minority in the churches I have pastored.  The vast majority of the people I know in the body of Christ are seeking to live their lives to honor Christ and help other people.  They live sacrificially to give of their resources for the sake of others.  They struggle and agonize over any sin in their lives and seek to be holy as God is holy.  One mark of a true Christian is that he realizes his need of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in his struggle with hypocrisy.  He knows that we need accountability and that comes through other brothers and sisters among the family of God.  To separate from this family would be disastrous.  We need each other.

We must also remember that although the church is plagued by many imperfections she is still the church Jesus loves.  The Bible says in Ephesians 5:25 that “Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.”  In spite of all our imperfections Jesus loved His church so much that He died for her.  There is no greater love than this, that He would lay down His own life for a bunch of hypocrites.  And it is not enough for us to simply admire the faithful love of Jesus in His ultimate sacrifice from a distance. Jesus calls us to follow Him.  He says in Mark 8:34, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”  If Jesus loved the church enough to die for her, and we are called to follow Him, then we must be willing to at least be a part of a church.  Otherwise we are not following Him.  Every church is imperfect because it is made up of imperfect people.  I once thought I had found “the perfect church” and once I joined as a member I ruined it!  Every true church is a group of imperfect people saved from their sin by the perfect Savior.  The only perfection among us is that which has been delivered to us through the death of Christ.    

There is always some dishonest hypocrisy among some members.  We should love them, pray for them, and lovingly confront them with the truth of God’s Word.  If they will not repent then we must deal with them appropriately according to Matthew 18:15-17.  Jesus says that if your brother sins against you then you should lovingly go to him and discuss the issue individually.  If he will not hear you then you must go to him with two or three witnesses and seek reconciliation.  If he still will not hear (if he insists upon living in blatant hypocrisy) then you must take it before the church.  The church must then act authoritatively and if he still refuses to hear even the church then there is only one last biblical option, to exclude him from the church.  I know this seems harsh in our culture but we must remember the damage that non-repentant hypocrisy causes.  Jesus says we must treat this non-repentant person like a heathen and a tax collector.  We do not hate heathens and tax collectors.  We love them and hope they will come to true repentance, but they are people who reject God and His grace.  They refuse to turn away from their sin and if they are allowed to continue as “members” of the church they serve to ruin the testimony of the church in the world.  These non-repentant, blatantly hypocritical and dishonest church members are exactly the type of people who cause legitimacy to the claim of some that the church is filled with hypocrites.  

My advice is twofold.  To the churches I must say, please deal with the sin among you.  Your inconsistencies may just be the millstone around your neck.  Be honest with God and one another and the world, it will point us all to our need for grace which is found only in Christ.  To those outside of a church I must say, please do not allow the faults of others prevent you from knowing God’s grace.  God does not have any orphans.  The churches are the body of Christ made up of His children.  “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”  (John 1:12)  You cannot walk with God if you separate yourself from His family.  Those who object to being a part of a church because of hypocrisy in others may see a real problem, or they may just be using this as an excuse.  Either way let us deal with hypocrisy honestly and make sure that we ourselves do not allow our own hypocrisy to prevent us from being a part of the kingdom of God.