THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER (INTRODUCTION)
#846 THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER (INTRODUCTION)
Scripture I Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:4-6 Orig. 4/1/1988
Passage:
I Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Exodus 19:4-6
4 “‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Purpose: To introduce the study of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer to the Church Training class.
Keywords: Doctrine Priesthood
Introduction
Item: Which of the following would be the more correct?
· “The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is a fundamental belief among all Baptists.” Findley Edge—1985 Doctrine of Laity1
· “The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is a fundamentalist belief among Baptists.”--incorrect
Item: Pass out the true/false pretest. Take time to work through this entire sheet of twenty questions allowing class to write in their answer.
Item: Display Cel #2, pass out worksheets. The class is to decide whether they agree with the statements, disagree, or are undecided. Overlay Cel with answers and discuss with the class.
Item: Display Cel #3
· Discuss: The priesthood of believers is the centerpiece of the Baptist faith.
· Discuss: A priest is someone who relates to, and acts for, God.
· Discuss: All believers are priests.
· Discuss: Spectator religion is out.
· Discuss: Each Christian has a duty to hand on the gospel.
· Discuss: The veil of the temple was rent in the midst. (Luke 23:45)
After discussion try to mount each of these statements around the room.
I. Refer to Outline Poster.
a. Display Cel #4 (Outline).
b. If the Agree/Disagree worksheet has not been used, do so at this time.
c. Definition of terms.
i. Priest—a person who relates to and acts for God (14:3).
ii. Believers—those who hold the proposition that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the final and ultimate revelation of the eternal God (9:4).
iii. Priesthood—to be priestly, to relate to and act for God (10:3).
iv. Priesthood of believers—a demand for priestly sacrifice to God on the part of all believers (13:1).
d. Have class search for answers to the “Who am I?” question in the text
i. I am Biblical
ii. I am Christian
iii. I am Baptist
iv. I am believer’s rights
v. I am one’s right to access God
vi. I am your right to choose Christ yourself
vii. I am the opposite of proxy religion
viii. I am the democratization of faith
ix. I am a movement of the people of God
x. I am your obligation of ministry
II. Looking at the Origin of Priesthood of Believers
a. Origin in biblical teaching
i. From Hebrew noun “kohen”—accepted meaning from the verb “to stand.” Used over 700 times in Old Testament
ii. Key Old Testament passage—Exodus 19:4-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. . . . You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
1. Moses was leading them to God’s will.
2. They were on the verge of entrance.
3. But first, they had to deal with a thing called “relationship” covenant.
4. It was an invitation to the entire nation to become priests.
b. Continuation in New Testament—
i. Greek word for priest is “hiereus.” Used in Gospels and Acts to describe the religious leadership of Israel; One reference to “priest of Zeus,” Acts 14:13.
ii. Various New Testament passages referring to the priesthood of believers.
1. I Peter 2:5, “You . . . are being built up into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.”
2. I Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.
3. Revelation 1:5-6. “To him who loves us . . . and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve . . . God.”
4. Revelation 5:9-10, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God.”
5. Revelation 20:6, “. . . but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
c. Expression in the early church
i. Believers applied Exodus 19:6 to themselves.
ii. Drew strength from texts relating priesthood to Christ.
1. “Hiereus” refers to Christ
2. Hebrews 4:14, “great high priest.”
3. Hebrews 7:14, “offered up himself.”
iii. They understood that New Testament priest never referred to specialized clergy.
d. A development in history changed the meaning of priesthood.
i. Priesthood was clericalized! Example, Mennonites in Transylvania began looking from their own fellowship for the next pastor.
1. Clergy/laity came to be.
2. Equality gave way to hierarchy.
3. Then came celibacy to intensify.
ii. Grace was sacramentalized!
1. With the separation and exaltation of the professional clergy.
2. Only they could dispense favors—baptism, Lord’s Supper.
3. Sacramental faith replaced personal faith.
iii. Church was institutionalized.
1. Church became a place to go.
2. Called to serve, many became spectators.
e. From the Reformation on:
i. Revolt came under such men as Zwingli, Luther, Calvin.
ii. It was based upon a belief in justification by faith.
iii. Luther’s emphasis.
1. Before God all Christians have the same standing . . . through faith.
2. Each Christian is a priest and needs no mediator save Christ.
3. Each Christian is a priest and has an office of sacrifice, not the Mass but the dedication of himself.
4. Each Christian has a duty to hand on the gospel which he himself has received.
iv. The contemporary Baptist position.
1. The necessity for each person to make his or her own commitment to Christ.
2. The understanding of the church as a community of believers.
3. The affirmation of the priesthood of all believers.
a. Freeman Baptist World Alliance 1905 (essential) “the sovereignty of Christ, accompanied by . . . the complete and consistent recognition of His personal, direct and undelegated authority over . . . souls . . . men.”
b. E.Y. Mullins “Axions of Religion”2—historic significance of Baptists?? “The competency of the soul in religion.”
c. Truett—“Keystone truth of the Baptists.”
d. Norman W. Cox, “We Southern Baptists”—distinctive—“redeemed personality ministering under the Lordship of Christ.”
Conclusion
Call attention to teaching posters. Ask class to single out one special one and comment on it.
Distribute printed copy of pretest and ask class to complete it for the next session.
Call attention to the outline (Cel #4). Session Two will cover chapters 2/3 “The Priesthood of the Believers and the Bible/Salvation.”
1Edge, F. (1985). The Doctrine of the Laity. Convention Press.
2Mullins, E.Y. (1908). The Axioms of Religion. American Baptist Publication Society.
Mulllins: https://archive.org/details/axiomsofreligion01mull_0/page/8/mode/2up
COVETOUSNESS REDEFINED
#299 COVETOUSNESS REDEFINED
Scripture Exodus 20:17, Luke 12:13-21, NIV Orig. 8/21/1966
Rewr. 10/28/1984
Passage:
Exodus 20:17
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Purpose: To conclude a series of messages on The Ten Commandments, this one redefining a positive thrust to “desire for” what is good.
Keywords: Covetousness Holy Spirit Gifts Series, Ten Commandments
Timeline/Series: Sequential
Introduction
I stood one day looking upon a woodland scene that is etched still upon my memory. The characters in the drama in miniature that unfolded before my eyes that day were a colony of ants. They were busy about those things that seem almost mechanical with such creatures. I was reminded then and now of that passage from The Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 30:25), “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.”
As I watched the busy activity at my feet that day, I wondered how many hundreds were passing under my gaze, and how many thousands of others that I could not see, all of which had one common goal. They were moving with unhurried pace, toward or away from the place that was their single destination. There was one sure sign of where home was. It was noted by the direction of those laboring under a burden.
I was fascinated by the trail over which they travelled. The woodland carpet had been worn nearly three quarters of an inch deep by their busy feet. Here was evidence of insatiable desire for food. Not by the wildest stretch of one’s imagination, however, could this be called covetousness.
Less than a mile away I had on numerous pastoral visits encountered another, though much larger, trail worn through a carpet of grass. It was worn by a collie named Prince as he roamed inside a fenced yard, barking at and chasing everything that appeared to his searching eye. That unreasoned longing more closely defines what God’s Word speaks of as covetousness.
I. A Negative Notification. V17, “Ye shall not covet your neighbor’s house; ye shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
1. The command first speaks of property.
a. Note that this command takes a direction that the others do not. It is self-limited.
b. The word “covet” means “inordinate desire.”
c. Eve—“Do not eat”—Satan challenged her at the point that God was saving the good one for Himself. She looked, she lingered, she longed, she listened, she lost.
d. Lot—While Abram built an altar, Lot (Genesis 13:12) was said to be “pitching his tent toward Sodom.”
2. The command secondly speaks of coveting the person of another.
a. It speaks as the 7th, at the point of sensual desire. Jesus enlarges on this to remind us that such begins with a look.
b. We remember well the story of David. I Samuel 17—a man of greatness—through II Samuel 10, II Samuel 11—obituary—“From the roof he saw” his sin, death of Uriah, encounter with Nathan, the child’s death, Absalom’s rebellion.
c. This also speaks, as the 8th, at the point of personal gain. Recall Laban—When Abram’s servant went to find a wife for Isaac, Laban “saw the earrings and bracelets that had been given to Rebecca and he went to fetch the man.”
II. A Positive Promise. Luke 12:31, “Seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you.” I Corinthians 12:31, “Covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way.”
1. It is the positive promise of a job to be done, a task to be accomplished.
a. Every person should have free and equal access to labor. The biggest problem facing the next President is jobs. Louisiana has unemployment from 4% to 14%. The chief concern of governors, legislators, and police juries ought to be jobs. God to Adam “by the sweat of your brow you will earn your bread.” Proverbs 30:25, “The ants are a people not strong. Yet they prepare their meat in the summer.”
b. Any sin of coveting here, is in coveting not to work.
c. It is certainly not a sin to covet a place of responsibility in your church. The best performance of tasks is always by people who desire those tasks.
2. It is the positive promise of family.
a. Can there be higher or nobler thinking than to COVET family. Two people in committed love. A thousand when God’s love sustains.
b. We are told that there was a tribe in New Mexico who had no word in their language for love. Translators struggled with John 3:16. Nearest word was similar to “heartburn.” “God so hurt in His heart.”
3. The positive promise of a faith to share.
a. The teaching of Jesus is clear. “Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” This is uncommon desire. But it is not inordinate. In John 6:27 Jesus told a parable of a pearl of great price. “When he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Such covetousness is allowed. Nay, rather, it is expected and demanded.
b. The teachings of God’s Word contain no other message. I Corinthians 12:31 “Covet the best gifts.” I Corinthians 14:39, “Covet to prophesy.” Psalm 51, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Conclusion
Tell the story from childhood of desire to have as Fuller Callaway, III, had. Call attention to the fact that while still a young man, having lived his life in luxury, [he died a suicide].
THE COMMON THIEVERIES OF LIFE
#289 THE COMMON THIEVERIES OF LIFE
Scripture: Exodus 20:15, Malachi 3:8-10 NIV Orig. 7/17/1966; 10/1984
Rewr. 7/24/1989
Passage:
Exodus 20:15
15 “You shall not steal.
Malachi 3:8-10
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Purpose: Continuing a series on the Ten Commandments, here identifying this eighth command as the bold declaration of relationship.
Keywords: Morality Series, Ten Commandments
Timeline/Series: Sequential
Introduction
Back in the mid-seventies, there were many students from Middle Eastern countries in school in various universities across the United States. One of the major ways in the last half century that America has helped third world nations is through the education of some of their brightest students.
One of these exchange students was in school in Oklahoma, It became necessary for him to purchase a used car. He was on a limited budget, but had to have a dependable car. The young man went to an agency near the campus and made the necessary arrangements. The used car served the young man well. Even when service was needed the dealer went out of his way to provide for this customer that would be leaving the country as soon as he graduated. He could have treated the young man shabbily. After all, the oldest consumer declaration known is “caveat emptor”—“Let the buyer beware.”
This is the rest of the story. Years passed. The young man, highly trained in business acumen, worked hard and became purchasing agent for a contractors’ association that was an affiliate of his government. Remembering his honest American friend who had helped him secure and keep a used car, he placed an order for his government. The order was for 450 pick-up trucks, and 750 heavy dump trucks.
I. The First Concern of Thievery is in not Daring. “Thou shalt not steal” means that we possess honorably, or not at all.
1. It is the failure to accept God’s plan for human provisioning.
1) Some think that work was a punishment heaped on Adam for his sin.
2) I remind you that he was given the garden and made to be its keeper.
3) God’s plan, then, is all are to be remunerated for their labor.
a) The Fourth command sought to certify a day of rest from labor.
b) Proverbs 12:11, “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread.”
c) The prudent woman of Proverbs 31:27, “She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.”
d) Paul advised Christians in I Thessalonians 4:11, “We urge you to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands.”
e) There was an even stronger word in I Timothy 5:8, “If any provide not for his own, he has denied the faith.”
f) Even the beasts were protected by Deuteronomy 25:4, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.” Quoted in I Corinthians 9:9 and again in I Timothy 5:18.
4) This plan is the foundation upon which any workable economic system is based.
a) One of the first freedoms should be the right to work—therefore to earn, therefore to save.
b) It is in this spirit of occupation that God gave man “dominion.” We can “occupy”—sitting, sleep. But for the Greek literally, it means “to be busy with.”
2. It is also the failure to live within our means.
1) Many year-end crime reports show most arrests for robbery, burglary. Last seen—over 1,000 per day
2) Article (Christianity Today) “Stealing Their Way through College.”
3) Until recently, 85% were men.
3. It is not daring to grant to others what we demand for ourselves.
1) There are too many who are unaffected by the plight of unemployed/under-employed.
2) Christians need to address social issues that force people into crime. In VBS I shared the story of Frank Laubach. More need to adopt his “Each One Teach One” philosophy.
4. Thank God, men are not working in sweatshops for pennies a day. 15-year-old boys are not being hung for stealing bread. But America still has social circumstances motivating criminal activity.
II. An Additional Concern of Thievery is That of not Sharing. “Thou shalt not steal” means that it is a sin to guard so selfishly what we should give away.
1. Not sharing the return of honest debts.
a. Christians are to be fiscally responsible.
b. That means paying debts, living within our means.
c. Proverbs 28:6, “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways though he be rich.”
d. I remind you there our responsibility to God is pictured in terms of debt—Our sin has not only corrupted us. Romans 8:12, “WE are debtors, not to the flesh, . . . but . . . the Spirit.”
2. It means sharing the load of legitimate taxes.
a. Not to pay the debts of scheming politicians. This week’s paper tells of Angola and the former governor’s agent (________) serving a five-year prison term.
b. Not to build up a welfare system that invites corruption.
c. To keep my country strong, and to help the weak, aged, homeless, who are not able to help themselves.
3. And of course it means the sharing of the blessings of the tithe.
a. Old Testament law or New Testament expectation for every believer.
b. The higher goal of reconciliation. Matthew 5:23, “If your gift . . . and remember, leave . . . go be reconciled.”
c. Malachi 3:8 pleads that the people not “rob God.”
d. At the point of commitment, we discover what we ought to do materially.
e. One of the eight woes of Luke 11:42 is of those tithing everything except a willing spirit.
III. The Final Concern of Thievery is That of not Caring. “Thou shalt not steal” speaks of the sin of not caring.
1. Stay free from the sin of benefiting from someone else’s misfortune. There was the Biblical character of Jacob (deceiver). He is not pictured as a hero. In fact, he makes amends to Esau.
2. Stay free from the sin of robbing a person of that that is irreplaceable.
a. Many girls have lost virtue on the basis of false promises [by] boys.
b. Gossip has been the instrument of stealing honor, integrity—to start it [or] to pass it along. Shakespeare: “He that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.” (Iago in Othello).
3. Stay free from the sin of stealing from the truth of God’s Word.
a. To deny it is to rob it of saving efficacy.
b. To compromise it is to steal from its life-giving vitality. John 10:1, “I say to you, he who does not enter the sheep-fold by the door, the same is a thief and a robber.”
4. Stay free from the sin of robbing people of their dignity.
a. They are the children of God.
b. We are to treat all people accordingly.
Conclusion
A student at seminary was the son of Japanese diplomat. In England they were given one hour to pack before being extradited at start of the war. Value (silver and gold); ancestor (porcelains, etc.). Finally, woolens, food. The war robbed them of great wealth. A daughter killed herself when her husband was killed in kamikaze raid. Converted in Germany following the war when he was given a portion of a German New Testament.
Links
https://renovare.org/articles/living-each-moment-with-a-sense-of-gods-presence-frank-laubach
THE SAD, SIMPLE SIN OF ADULTERY
#286 THE SAD, SIMPLE SIN OF ADULTERY
Scripture Exodus 20:14, Matthew 5:27-28 NIV Orig. 7/10/1966, 2/1976
Rewr. 7/17/1989
Passage:
Exodus 20:14
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
Matthew 5:27-28
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Purpose: Continuing a series on the ten commandments, here defining the sin of adultery as the abuse of human sexuality.
Keywords: Adultery Love Marriage Sexuality Series, 10 Commandments
Timeline/Series: Sequential
Introduction
If you could decide for everyone of what human sexuality ought to consist, what would you decide? If your marriage were to become the touchstone, would our society be better off for it?
The most significant human relationship on this earth is that which exists between a man and a woman who have shared fully of themselves with each other. To share fully, means to share in perpetuity. Significance is determined by two lives interwoven with the fabric of eternity.
It was popular a generation ago, but was indicative of fleshly pursuits rather than spiritual acumen:
“Though our love may vanish with the morning light,
We loved once in splendor, how tender the night.”
Today’s lyrics are far more vulgar and suggestive. The goal of the entertainment industry today is to make the lifestyle of its proponents the standard for all.
Christians do not have a choice. We are not free to choose the kind of sexuality that we will employ. Song of Solomon (3:5) contains an intriguing directive.
“I adjure you, O daughter of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the fields, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it pleases.”
It addresses the vulnerability of sexuality. To love always means to be vulnerable. It means to face the trauma of what may jeopardize love. Human spirituality is the resource through which we see the enemies to such love and by opposing, end them.
I. The Sin Addressed in the Seventh Commandment is That of Adultery.
1. Its principal infraction is within the bounds of marriage. Matthew 19:5, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.”
a. “Cleave,” by the way, means “to join fast together, to cement.”
b. Marriage is a firm, fast, part of the plan of God. It was so in the beginning. Jesus affirms its longevity.
c. It is the fullest expression of human sexuality.
i. Not to be learned in Hollywood. The music video scene prostitutes its meaning. To follow the world’s way is to be adrift on a sea of passion.
ii. The Victorian church is partly responsible. The abusive dogma of sex for procreation only is as offensive as promiscuity.
iii. It is the physical, mental, spiritual sharing of a man and a woman in every dynamic of life.
2. Biblical adultery, however, is more than the breakdown of marriage.
a. It is defined as well as premarital sexual experimentation. Deuteronomy 22 defines a long list of sexual infractions. For these improprieties, death was often the sentence. Marriage was an alternative if both were single. There has to be a better beginning.
b. Nothing is as simple as it used to be. Valentine Day was celebrated on the frontier by leaving a cryptographic message, stamping on the porch, and hiding to watch the object of this flirtation to see her reaction upon deciphering the message. Even if people had porches, I would not advise stamping on them in the middle of the night.
c. What we Christians must always remember is that we can’t teach what we don’t live. The Grapes of Wrath sizzled forty years ago. It hardly raises an eyebrow today. There are a lot of mothers out there who have caved in and just teach their daughters about the pill.
d. The young person who navigates this sea of promiscuity has had excellent example, exemplary teaching, and probably has good genes besides. It is worth the wait. But marriage is made of more than innocence.
II. We Are Not Hard-Pressed to Certify the Wrong of Adultery.
1. It is wrong in the first place, because God’s Word says so.
a. There are those who say it is a question for consenting adults. Kinsey refers to sexuality as “biologic function.” It is that in lower animals. Do you wish it to be no more for humans?
b. Trull calls man the “superorganic creation,” meaning that his sexuality is unlike other created orders.
c. There are theologians who confuse the issue. They are of the “new morality.” Basically, this is the old immorality given acceptance. Biblically, morally, humanly, sex is uniquely tied to marriage. It is climax and consummation of union.
Charlie Brown stood transfixed considering the hill just out of town. “What’s on the other side?” he mused. “What if there’s a kid over there looking over here wondering what’s on the other side?” Lucy yells out, “Forget it kid.”
Christians survey the landscape of sexuality. Some struggle to the top of the hill because it’s there, asking “What if?” They toboggan to the bottom, crash on all the clutter. Look back asking, “What if?”
2. For the Christian, God’s Word is enough, but how do we convince an unbelieving world?
a. Sexual misconduct is harmful. Not because Father Time says so, or some zealous evangelist. Perverted love is lust, and lust distorts the capacity for caring. Sex becomes “What I can do for me,” and nothing else.
b. It is harmful for pathological reasons. Such diseases have always been around. The new kid on the block is AIDS. Newsweek reports that CDC will soon announce 100,000 cases, 54,000 deaths—Nearly as many as killed in Vietnam.
c. Abortion is a social concern, but it is directly related to sexual misconduct.
III. A Final Word Must Be Said of Judgment. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
1. This means that there are moral implications.
a. There is no satisfaction being only a dispenser of accusations.
b. Openness to discuss such things means little if there are no alternatives. Two monkeys were on their way to the moon. One says, “This is a heck of a way to make a living.” The other responded, “You remember, they offered you cancer research.”
2. For the guilty, there is the alternative of forgiveness. It begins [by] recognizing God’s sovereignty. For best results it should involve the offended spouse. One must be capable of forgiving oneself as well.
3. To deny the forgiveness factor is to play Russian roulette with our emotions. James 1:15, “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Romans 1:24, “Wherefore God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts.”
4. A final word, then, to the inexperienced.
a. Keeping God’s command is reasonable.
b. Not only is it best, it is possible.
c. Cultivate clean thinking: avoid unseemly, sexually explicit situations.
d. Accept the high ideal of Christ and trust Him for Holy Spirit help.
e. Don’t complicate others’ lives by gossip, even when you know it’s true.
THE STRANGE WAYS OF DEATH
#284 THE STRANGE WAYS OF DEATH
Scripture Exodus 20:13, Matthew 5:21-22, NIV Orig. 7/3/1966 (2/1976)
Rewr. 7/13/1999
Passage:
Exodus 20:13
13 “You shall not murder.”
Matthew 5:21-22
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Purpose: Continuing a series from the Ten Commandments, here calling attention to the involvements of causal death.
Keywords: Death Murder Series: Ten Commandments Suicide
Timeline/Series: Sequential
Introduction
The strange ways of death affect each of us. To the one it lends itself in quest of eternal values, of God Himself. To the other it causes the bristling of the hairs of doubt and dread.
I struggled for years with the husband of a church member who would close any conversation in reference to his lack of faith with a heated charge. He could not, would not believe in a God who would allow such perpetration of evil as that heaped upon the German Jews of the Second World War.
But many have been propelled to faith by some disquieting visit from the death angel. My good friend, and fellow New Orleans pastor, came to seminary after such a visit in a Kerr-McGee pumping station in Oklahoma. He was an active Christian. In fact, it was his relationship to his church that was directly related to the death Ralph Blevins arranged for a Wednesday night off to participate in an important church business meeting. And on that night, one of the proverbial plains tornadoes roared into his home town and vented its fury precisely on that pumping station, killing the substitute attendant. It was that death that turned my friend toward the pursuit of a seminary education and a commitment to the pastorate.
After graduation he became pastor of a struggling congregation on the lower side of the Crescent City, and never found reason to leave. Retired now, “death’s strange ways” touched his life in New Orleans as well. His older daughter’s husband was killed, electrocuted, while flying a wire-controlled model airplane. His younger daughter, twenty-one at the time, [died] of heart failure.
Some of “death’s strange ways” may be listed as “acts of God.” Death is much easier to deal with if it is so defined. Others cannot be! Must not be! How does one make peace with such loss when it results from the machinations of other human beings. God’s Word is adamant. “Thou shalt not kill.” But a lot of people are being killed, and artful devices in the hands of other people are clearly at fault.
I. Our First Consideration is of Death by Malice. James 4:1, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? . . . You kill and covet.”
1. The heat of anger.
a. Our law differentiates between premeditated and unpremeditated. A man was dead from a gun in another man’s hand, but in defending himself he was ruled to have caused the discharge. Justice? Unless he was our friend.
b. The scripture concludes a difference. Numbers 35:11, “. . . cities of refuge. . . , that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.”
1-A type of mercy.
2-Personal responsibility was taught.
3-Presumptuous wrong, high-handed sin, offered no recourse. Numbers 15:30f
c. So, man assumes the responsibility, regardless of terms, when he takes another’s life. Shakespeare Othello: “Put out the light, and then put out the light: If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy flaming light restore. But once put out thy light, . . . I know not where is that Promethean heat that can thy light relume.”
2. Beyond the heat of anger looms the stress of war. A 4th grader asked how WWII started. The mother told of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The father, in another room, came quickly to point out all the other factors involved. A heated argument ensued. “Never mind, I think I get the picture.”
a. A Norwegian statistician fed information about wars into a computer It revealed the following:
1-5,575 years of recorded history
2-14,530 wars (2-1/2 times as many)
3- Of 190 generations, 10 without war
4-WWI mobilized 65 million with 8-1/2 million deaths and 37-1/2 million casualties
5-WWII mobilized 100 million with 22 million deaths and 34 million casualties
b. Hosea knew what God’s attitude was. Hosea 2:18, “Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land so that all may lie down in safety.” Amos 9:14, “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.”
c. When you find God’s people with a sword in their hand or a dagger at their throats, you remember, it is man’s device, not God’s.
II. We Must Not Overlook Death Without Malice. The “city of refuge” is for the one killing “any person at unawares.” (Numbers 15:11)
1. Scripture says little other than implantation of these cities of refuge.
a. A clear difference between killing and murder.
b. But to have accidentally caused the death of another defines guilt.
c. Such refugees taught personal responsibility.
2. Accidental death take a different hue in this 20th Century.
a. Daggers didn’t go off accidentally.
b. People were rarely run down by camels.
c. The only people with wheels were potters.
3. Our day is beset by the woes of the avoidable accident.
a. Every family in this room has been visited by accidental death, many caused.
b. I have had to preach these funerals.
c. I passed recently within two blocks of a railroad crossing where family of six killed on their way to church.
4. I pray to reach a safe haven. I pray that I may not be guilty of another’s death. The single best thing you can do is to teach by example: alcohol does not belong behind the wheel, and seat belts should always be used.
5. There is also a liability beyond immediate cause.
a. Employees are to take seriously the safety of all employees.
b. Landlords should be held accountable for hazardous dwellings.
c. There are those who are culturally dead barely existing in a society that has passed them by. Was it suicide or murder?
III. Consider this Death by Suicide.
1. The statistics are appalling.
a. Every 2-1/2 minutes someone attempts.
b. 25,000 a year (in U.S.) succeed.
c. So many have occurred on the West Coast that some researchers have called it the West Coast sickness.
d. They’re mostly white, Protestant. They’ve run as far as they can run.
2. On the world scene it is frightening.
a. W.H.O. researcher Anthony May
b. May be as many as 1000/day—10X as many attempts.
IV. There are Biblical Examples of Proxy Deaths. David had Uriah put in the line of fire to ensure his death.
1. There is the guilt of the alcohol-sated driver who causes other deaths. A Kentucky man last year who hit a church bus. Is “may he rot in jail” unkind?
2. Drugs (even prescribed) cause people to do things unacceptable by decent standards.
a. Baby found wandering on freeway in New Orleans.
b. At the controls of an 18-wheeler, speeding freight, 200,000-barrel tanker. Drug tests are no longer a deprivation of freedom, they are essential to order.
V. If Christ were Standing Here Before Us, There are Some Things I Imagine He Would Say.
1. No one knows better than He that all must be finally visited by dusky death.
2. To be responsible for the death of any human being under any conditions as a grievous sin (with or without malice, avoidable or not, premeditated or not)
3. To take up arms to do bodily harm must be perceived as against the will of God, and is therefore sin.
4. Even when war is an inescapable alternative, we are to remember our accountability.
5. Our city of refuge: Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.”
THE WORD IN THE WORLD
#616 THE WORD IN THE WORLD
Scripture Psalm 68:11; II Peter 1:19,20f Orig. 1/12/1975
Rewr. 7/15/1987
Passage:
Psalm 68:11
11 The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng
II Peter 1:19,20f
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.
Purpose: Beginning a Wednesday evening study emphasis on themes of Christian growth.
Keywords: Word of God New Member Bible
Timeline/Series: Wednesday evening Bible Study
Introduction
Because of the terrible accident last January, we are not hearing much about space flights. Soon, however, problems will be rectified and men and machines will be flying again.
We remember, though, some significant consistencies of all prior flights. Each had on board computers, and land-based ones to control direction and destination. Mission Control would periodically check references to determine course. If the space vehicle was any minute degree off target, then correcting information was fed to the on-board computer.
What we must remember, however, is that there had to be an initially agreed upon source of correct information, They could not pull numbers out of a hat. They had to be dependable and readily available.
In the same way, when we get off target, whether by carelessness, or by social inertia, we need a source of information, dependable, and readily available to correct our flight. And God has given us His Word.
I. General Background.
The Bible developed gradually. Old Testament writing covers the period from Moses (c. 2000 BC) to Artaxerxes I (425 BC)—a Persian ruler. Septuagint (Seventy) written for large Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt (in Hellenist Greek) about 280 BC. Old Testament form: Torah—Genesis/Deuteronomy; Prophets—Joshua/Kings (early), Minor/Major (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel—late); Writings—Poetry (Psalms, Proverbs, Job), Five Rolls (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Lamentations), History (Daniel, Ezekiel, Nehemiah, Chronicles). Periods of New Testament activity—70-170 AD Circulation of separate writings/oral teachings; 170-303 AD—canon established/continuing debate; 303-500 AD—accumulation of manuscripts useful today for research; to the present—proliferation of translations.
Old Testament/New Testament alerts to the word. Psalm 68:11 “The Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that published it.” II Peter 1:20/21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Looking briefly at early manuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus—German Tischendorf at Greek Orthodox Monastery found 129 pages in waste basket; 27 New Testament books plus Shepherd of Hermas—in British Museum. Codex Vaticanus 350 AD—came to light during Napoleonic Wars; Tragelles1 allowed to study without notes/memorized/1859 Pius IX photograph. Codex Alexandrinus (450 AD), Matthew missing—gift of Greek Orthodox Patriarch to Charles I in 1627. Ephraemi Rescriptus2—in 1834 a theology student wrote on Father Ephraem (16th Century Syrian), the paper was an erased Biblical manuscript.
II. Other Interesting Features
A verse of form—Luke 11:51 “From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.” First book in Hebrew Bible is Genesis. Last is II Chronicles. Genesis 4:10 – II Chronicles 24:20-21.
A verse of continuity—See II Chronicles 36:22. Read Ezra 1;1-3.
III. Place of scripture for Christians.
II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Doctrine—divine viewpoint, I Corinthians 2:16 “We have the mind of Christ.” Reproof—the consternation of imperfection; utilization of faith resources; Hebrews 10:38f “Now the just shall live by faith: . . . but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe unto the saving of the soul.” Correction—see under reproof. Instruction in righteousness—Experience achieved through preaching, teaching, personal study; II Timothy 3:17 “That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Links:
FROM DESOLATION TO DOXOLOGY
#717 FROM DESOLATION TO DOXOLOGY
Scripture Ezekiel 36:22-36, NIV Orig. Date July 6, 1978
Passage: 22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’
Purpose: To call attention to those values which free the human spirit from the petty values of the flesh that we might learn to walk with God.
Keywords: Prayer Worship Wonder Stewardship
Introduction
Emile Cailliet, in his book Journey Into Light, tells of his search as a young French intellectual. The war was over. His time in foxholes behind him. But he remembered the hours of longing for some book that would contain all of the great and lofty pinnacles of literature, a book as he said “that would understand me.” Upon his return to the academic community he decided to put this book together. He called it his “anthology.”
The young woman, a Scotch-Irish evangelical, whom he met in Germany and later married, had been informed that religion would be a taboo subject in their home. It would remain important in her life however. A few years later, after the birth of their first child, and living in France, God threw open a door for her husband’s desolate soul.
She was pushing the baby carriage, found the way crowded, and ventured off to a side street totally unfamiliar to her. Spotting a patch of grass, she stopped to rest. She then noticed a stone stairway, and without knowing why, she climbed it. At the top she saw an open door, and as she entered, she saw a white-haired gentleman at work at his desk, and nearby, the ornate carving of a cross. Only then did she realize that this was a Huguenot church structure, hidden away even though the danger of persecution had long passed in France.
Without fully understanding why, she approached the pastor and asked, “Have you a Bible in French?” He handed her one, and she walked out with both feelings of joy and guilt. She had not intended a confrontation with her husband. But when the confrontation came, she heard her husband say, “A Bible you say? Where is it? Show me. I have never seen one before.”
You see, his project, the Anthology, was a failure. His words were “I knew that the whole undertaking would not work, simply because it was of my own making.” But it was in this hour that his wife returned with the French Bible. Let me share his words, “I literally grabbed the book and rushed to my study, I ‘chanced’ upon the Beatitudes! I read, and read. . . . I could not find words to express my awe and wonder. Suddenly the realization dawned upon me: This was the book that would understand me! I needed it so much, yet, unaware, I had attempted to write my own in vain .”
For “Desolation” to become “Doxology” it was true for Israel that there were obligations which they owed to God. V33, “In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes will be builded.” Desolation to Doxology is God’s plan for His people in this day also.
I. Give God the First Hour of Every Day.
There are instructions that call us constantly to prayer and meditation. Psalm 63:6 “I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.” Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.” Luke 18:1 “Men ought always to pray and not to faint,”
Only those days that find us in God’s presence with first light will conclude with His reassuring. Psalm 5:3 “My voice wilt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Lamentations 3:22f “The Lord’s mercies . . . are new every morning.” Psalm 88:13 “. . . in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.”
It must be noted here that there is no more heart-rending passage in the Bible than this. The Psalmist is desperate. In his “desolation” he speaks “my prayer prevents thee.” His determination for God to intervene, causes him to appeal to God before, in His own labors, [God’s] vigil carries Him elsewhere.
II. We are Likewise Instructed to Give God the First Day of Every Week.
This is, first of all, a mandate for worship. A reminder that we are mortal. Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say unto the House of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes O House of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen.” Such a reminder teaches us that He is Immortal. When I kneel to pray I feel the special quality of His person. When I meditate upon His Word, I discover a feeling, caring message of concern.
It is also a manifestation of wonder. Perhaps you heard about the fisherman who was observed catching fish, throwing the large ones back, keeping only the ones shorter than his forearm. “I have only a ten-inch fry pan,” he said. Shall we work on interest and entertainment to motivate? Shall we stay with the WORD and trust self-motivation?
III. Do not Neglect to Give God the First Portion of Every Paycheck.
We don’t want grudgy money.
I know of few areas where there is such clear effort to intimidate the preaching of truth as there is in regard to our pocketbooks. I am, first of all, intimidated by my own failure. If I am not true to my own conscience and the convicting of the Holy Spirit, then I need not seek Spirit leadership in other things.
V27f Ezekiel laid the judgment of God on the line for Israel. If the corn was to be increased, and the famine decreased, and the fruit of the tree multiplied, and the waste places built up, then Israel must accede to the Spirit which God puts within.
Will I also be intimidated by those who want this message to be low-key? Yes, I would go there to church, but everytime I go he’s preaching about money. If that is the case, then perhaps God is speaking more directly to you than you would dare suppose.
There is no area of our public Christian life that is more totally under our control than the area of stewardship of possessions. Though the demands and judgments of God are clear, He [neither] wants nor expects anything from us that we do not have to give. I do not give my tithe because the law demands. I give it because my heart insists upon it. The widow’s mite given in love is 10,000 times more important to the Kingdom of God than the boldest of gifts given for lesser reasons.
IV. Give God the First Consideration in Every Decision. V33 “Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.”
I know of no verse of Scripture, certainly not in man-made illustration that puts spiritual value in perspective like Psalm 84:10. It also contains the Hebrew “dwell.” “One day with God is better than a thousand of any other kind.” I would rather be restricted to the view from the threshold of my Father’s house, than to be the head-honcho in the mansion acquired through godlessness.
Peter’s experience recounted in Luke 5:1-6 also helps us to keep this in perspective. He had toiled all night as a fisherman and had nothing to show for his labors. At the direction of Jesus, he went back to the same dry holes and the net broke under the burden of his success. WHO DID YOU WORK FOR THIS WEEK?
V. Give God First Place in Your Heart.
It is to this that the other four have reference.
John Gillmartin, Sermon Illustrations each Week, “Blood-Stained Testimony”—
A Gideon friend recently told of how the Gideons’ well-known, pearl-white New Testaments were distributed to the Pacific Fleet prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. He also told of how, on a later occasion, the evangelist Harry Rimmer was speaking to a meeting of believers interested in military evangelism. During the speech, Dr. Rimmer displayed his own personal copy of the white Pacific Fleet New Testament.
Following the meeting, a member of the audience tarried to show Dr. Rimmer another white New Testament, one given to his son prior to the bombing of the Hawaiian base—one stained with blood. The man smiled and said, “Yes, this little book is very precious—it’s stained with the blood of my son.” Dr. Rimmer paused for a moment, then held up his personal Bible and said, “God feels the same way about that Book. He loves [it] too. Its pages are stained with the blood of His Son.” Indeed it is; each page of Holy Writ is covered with that precious, precious blood which flowed from the pierced and bleeding side of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. [Thanks to Brian Stromsoe, of the Gideons, for recently sharing this vignette with our church.]
Is your mind and heart clear in relation to Jesus? Do you understand that He is the One who died for you?
The Son of God spent His life in one determined effort to deliver you from the pits of Hell. Have you allowed Him to do that?
Conclusion
While this of which we speak is the work of God, it is not normally something which He is going to do without our full cooperation.
Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Revelation 22:17 “Let him that is athirst come! Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”
BEARING FALSE WITNESS
#292 BEARING FALSE WITNESS
Scripture Exodus 20:16; John 8:32 NIV Orig. 7/24/1966; 3/1976
Rewr. 8/17/1989
Passage:
Exodus 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Purpose: Continuing a series on the Ten Commandments, here calling attention to the ninth and its urgings as to the importance of truthfulness in all things.
Keywords: Falsehood Truth Witness
Timeline/Series: Ten Commandments
Introduction
If one is writing on stone tablets, brevity and conciseness are essential. It is necessary to say the very most in the very fewest possible words. We must remember, then, that the value of these words springs not from their mass, but from their measure.
John, the gospel writer, will not be content until the full measure of this meaning is stated. He determines to define and personalize both truth and falsehood.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. . . . For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:14,17.
Satan was called “a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44
Pilate wanted to know if Jesus was a king: “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37f). “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”
“Jesus said to him, (Thomas) ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’” John 14:6.
There is His most earnest expectation for us: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you . . . the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16f
John 8:32 “If you continue in my word, you are . . . my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
I shall seek to go in two directions this morning: (1)To define what “being a false witness” means,” and, (2)understanding religious experience as the fullest expression of truth.
I. Bearing False Witness is the Passing of Any Judgment that is not Factually True.
We live in an age of compromised values. Integrity and truthfulness are often sacrificed for personal advantage. People in “high” and “low” places speak in the lingo of the Saturday matinee, “with forked tongue.” What emerges is a bland mixture of truth, half-truth, and no-truth-at-all: The fairest flower is poisoned; the tallest sequoia has root rot; the finest furrows of our fertile fields are awash with weeds.
A man was asked: “What in your lifetime has given you the greatest satisfaction?” He answered without hesitation: “A child that went down the road singing, after asking me the way.”
How willing are you this morning to perceive of yourself as the witness in question? Anonymous: “There is no fit search after truth which does not, first of all, begin to live the truth it knows.”
To begin at the beginning is to define false witness as the giving of false evidence in a court of law. This was at the heart of the Old Testament meaning: Perjury is a crime; it is false testimony; it is withholding truth. The law court is a device, ordained of God, through which justice is mediated. Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power of God: The powers that be are ordained of God.” For the which there is judge, jury, witness, plaintiff, defender, accused: One lie irreparably breaks down the system.
Out of the law court, the false witness is the peddler of malicious gossip. Do not ask if true or false, it is gossip either way. Claim not to be condemning sin. That being the case, to the sinner you must go. Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man/woman that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Doubt not that the one receiving such trash is as guilty as the purveyor. We take garbage to a proper receptacle. So the gossip, with his load of filth, seeks out the willing ear. If such people gravitate toward you, find out why.
One who wishes to slander another can do so also by inference. This is the realm of the half-truth. When the real juicy stuff is in decline, this will do very well. Proverbs 11:9, “An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor.” Proverbs 12:18, “Gossip can be as sharp as a sword. But the tongue of the wise heals.” NEB.
Someone has noted, “Beware of half-truths. You may get hold of the wrong half.” Shakespeare writes of Julius Caesar’s death at the hand of Brutus, but he thought justly. Mark Antony delivers the funeral oration intent on declaring his feelings to the populace. Speaking then that “Brutus is an honorable man,” until the people begin to doubt. After planting this doubt, Shakespeare has Antony to say, “Mischief, thou art afoot. Take thou what course thou wilt.”
Likewise in need of consideration is standing in defense when it is in our power to do so. In defense of a friend when their character is assailed: Mainly, nothing counteracts slander at its roots like upbeat, positive reply. Job 42:10 “The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.” John 13:34 “that ye love one another.” Romans 12:20 “If thine enemy hunger, feed him.”
II. The Second Consideration from this Passage is a Valid Declaration of Religious Experience. “Thou shalt bear false witness.”
We are, in fact, to communicate the truth of relationship. There are people in the local church and out, who deny Jesus is Lord. Those out are the object of some ministry of prayer or concern. Those within are a contradiction of gospel declaration. Mark 16:16 “He that believeth not shall be damned.” These are the words of Jesus. To what degree do we believe them? Are we willing to live by them?
Laws in natural world, fire, water, storm, are deadly. Even the liberal media warn of dangers of drugs.
Whether we take Jesus’ words (above) to be temporal or eternal, we are to live in the context of truth, reality.
We, occasionally, need to reconsider our own spiritual experience. In light of all the New Testament says about repentance, are we up-to-date? Can we recall the time when, by actual expression of faith, Christ became Lord of my life? “Ye must be born again.” Let me rephrase an earlier statement. “There is no fit search after Jesus (truth), which does not, first of all, begin to live the Jesus (truth) it knows.” Go, and live that experience, or be what you are, a false witness.
Conclusion
Martin Luther had theological values we would not want. He thought the earth stationary. (Eclipse.) He thought demons caused thunderstorms. National Geographic [has a] picture of black wall stain where he threw his ink pot at the devil. But it was he, standing before Emperor Charles, surrounded by the royal court, knowing that he was bringing the combined wrath of empire and church down on his own head who declared his witness. “. . . My conscience is captive to the word of God . . . . Here I stand! I can do no other! God help me!”
THE PARABLE OF TREES
#784 (use with #33) THE PARABLE OF TREES
Scripture Judges 9:7-15 NIV Orig. Date 8-26-51
Rewr. Dates 9-26-90
Passage: 7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’
9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’
10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’
11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’”
Keywords: Parable
Timeline/Series: Old Testament Parables
Introduction
Our story begins with Gideon. He was chosen as judge of the people. He sought confirmation. Judges 6:36f “If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand.” So, both Gideon and the people knew that he was their leader. They responded to him accordingly.
In later years, they had come to depend on him so completely that they offered him rule over them. Judges 8:22 “Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
The word for rule implies sovereignty. It may or may not have the effect of royalty. It is nonetheless clear that they were satisfied with all that had happened and were willing for the descendants of Gideon to come to the office and role of rule if not to the place of monarchy.
Gideon rejected these advances. He made it clear “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you” (Judges 8:23).
Besides king-like rule, Gideon left behind seventy sons “of his body begotten” (8:30), and a son, by a concubine, whom he called Abimelech. At Gideon’s death, Abimelech struck quickly. He went to Shechem, his mother’s home, claimed to be one of them, and the royal son. Together, they went after his half-brothers, killing all of them but Jotham, the youngest, who was delivered from this attempted assassination.
The message here, a parable or fable, is Jotham’s message to the men of Shechem who have followed Abimelech’s wiles.
I. It is First of All About Trees. Judges 9:8, “The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them.” It has the quality of a fable, but it is meant to stand out as a moral lesson. The meaning is hidden, but barely. These Shechemites are to see themselves. Jotham means for them to not like what they see.
There are some things we need to remember about trees. They derive their sustenance from soil. They take from the soil what they are fitted to take to meet their own needs. The trees are not valued equally in the codes of human economy. They are different in terms of size, and sight, and fruit.
Jotham then begins to identify certain of these trees and plants. The olive tree was asked to reign over the forest. One tree can yield a half ton of fruit per year, and there were numerous orchards. It offers food and building supplies. The olive branch is a symbol for peace.
The fig tree was called forth to reign. The fig tree provides food; in I Samuel 25:18, Abigail, an Israelite woman, made 200 cakes of pressed figs. Adam and Eve used its leaves to cover themselves. It is the first fruit mentioned in the Bible.
The vine was singled out. It produced fruit for nourishment and for medicinal purposes. In Numbers 13:23, the spies sent out by Moses cut a branch with a cluster of grapes, and also brought pomegranates and figs. Micah 4:4, “But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.”
Finally, the great cedar was pictured. It was the greatest of Bible trees. Herbert Lockyer wrote that a cedar could be as much as 120 feet tall, with a girth of 40 feet (A36p334). Both Solomon’s temple and palace included cedars. In Judges 9:15 fire devours the Cedars of Lebanon.
A bramble is offered the role. It is a plant with no fruit of worth. Some use it as fuel. It could be used as a hedge, 12-15 feet high. The parable does not effect repentance.
II. The Prophetic Message of the Parable/Fable. Judges 9:15, “If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow.”
The olive tree has to do with covenant privilege. Romans 11:17-21: 17 ‘And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, [2] and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.’
It is evergreen, suggesting eternality. In Exodus 27:20 the Hebrews were to bring “pure” olive oil for use in the tabernacle.
The fig tree seems more to stand for the national privilege. I Kings 4:25 “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” That is similar to Micah 4:4; Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Zechariah 10:12 forecast the messianic time. Think of the intended sweetness of the fig. But the Christless Zion is the bane of most non-western nations. Also, the great parable of Christ in Matthew 24:32, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree: when his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that Summer is nigh.”
The vine seems to speak of spiritual privilege. Isaiah 5:4, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” The vine is God’s chosen symbol for joy. The vine brought forth alien fruit. Psalm 80:14, “Look down from heaven and visit this vine; and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted; . . . turn us again, O Lord of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”
The bramble speaks of liberty, responsibility, privilege being sacrificed. The bramble is willing to reign. The cedars are willing to allow it. The demand of the bramble is for the cedar to “put your trust in my shadow.” It is said that when the Messiah comes, He will build the new temple, again of cedars, but instead, His head was anointed with bramble.
THE POTTER’S HOUSE (with Deuteronomy)
#614bb THE POTTER’S HOUSE (with Deuteronomy)
Scripture Deuteronomy 20:1-4; Jeremiah 18:1-6, NIV Orig. Date May 10, 1981
Passage:
Deuteronomy 20:1-4
When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Jeremiah 18:1-6
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.”
Purpose: To share a message at a special gathering of high school students.
Keywords: Discipline Banquet Revelation Relationship Youth
Introduction
It was one of those intolerably hot August days. A hiker had come out of the high regions and was beginning to see signs of civilization. Occasionally, in the distance, a house. Here and there, cultivated land with crops laid by. The hiker was now thinking only of finding a place to get a cool drink of water.
Down the way, he saw an old mountain house. As he drew nearer, he saw a man seated in a rickety chair on the run-down porch. As he approached he determined to be neighborly to the man, hoping that he would be so in return. He spoke, then called attention to the disagreeable weather. Still no invitation to rest came. He went on, “How is your cotton doing in this hot, dry weather?”
“Ain’t got none!” replied the mountain man.
“Didn’t you plant any cotton?” asked the surprised traveler.
“Nope,” he replied, “’fraid the boll weevils’d get it.”
“Well,” said the passer-by, “How is your corn?”
“Ain’t got none of that either,” said the old farmer, “And if you gotta know, I figured there weren’t gonna be no rain.”
Still hoping for an invitation to rest, and a drink of water, the hiker plunged in again. “Really, well what did you plant?” he asked.
“Didn’t plant nothing,” said the farmer, getting up to enter the old house. “I just played it safe.”
There are lots of good reasons why we do what we do. Some of them even good ones, and our excuses become the determinants of the way our lives are lived. To be a farmer and not to plant is ludicrous. To live in God’s world and make excuses for discounting Him is also.
There’s a shorter story of an avid golfer who was checking with his spiritual adviser about golfing in heaven. The adviser said, “There’s good and bad news. The good news is that the golf courses in heaven are many and lavish.” “That’s great!” the golfer happily exclaimed. “What’s the bad news?” The adviser said: “Tee off time is tomorrow at 10a.m.”
At first glance, Cervantes’ novel, Don Quixote, has little to offer young people. It is the story of a thought-to-be senile old man, and his fat and 50ish servant. They launch a quest to do something about the evil in the world, the don on a sway back horse and Panza on a mule. They stop for the night at a less than becoming inn, and his strange ways continue. He addresses the slovenly inn-keeper, “Behold, you are the Lord of this great manor.” The abused kitchen servant was seen as a beautiful maiden, and he requests a token to carry with him into his battles with evil. But what happens is that people who have never been trusted before respond to Quixote’s kindness, and it changes their lives, and does affect the evil in the world by affecting the lives of evil people.
You are at the place to decide your quest: A part of the evil, or an attempt to do something about it. Why you?
The New Orleans TV market had an unusually fine TV program a few years ago that ended with the sudden and unexpected death of the host, Jim Metcalf. He chose for a portion of one program to see life through a child’s eyes. “I now recall only how to look. I do not recall how to see.”
You must decide quickly, before you join a great host of others who recall only how to look at the world, not how to see it. How to experience the world, not how you feel about that experience.
Jeremiah is a case in point. It is here that I invite you to venture with Jeremiah to the potter’s house.
I. With All of His Experience, there was a Lesson that He had Missed. It was not an obvious lesson: not wasted clay, though we Americans have something to learn about waste—our loss of credibility. The lesson was in the symbol of wasted clay. It was a revelation. Not new, but very old. The symbol declared that it was God’s purpose to take what seemed to be useless and give it meaning and opportunity. It is a lesson that must not be pushed too far. The clay does not have free will with which it can resist the potter. Jeremiah did, and we do.
II. You See, Even as God’s Prophet, He had Compromised an Ideal. The world out there waiting for you is beset with bargains.
Soren Kierkegaard told a story about wild geese who chose to stay behind in a farmer’s field because it was safe. A wild goose, with broken wing, entered a farmer’s flock. After winter, with healed wing, he heard another flock flying north. He extolled the other geese to fly with him, but they would not, for the farmer’s corn was good, and the barnyard secure.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote: “When was it that I completely scattered the good seeds, one and all? For, after all, I spent my boyhood in the bright singing of Thy temples.
“Bookish subtleties sparked brightly, piercing my arrogant brain, the secrets of the world . . . in my grasp, life’s destiny . . . as pliable as wax.
“Blood seethed . . . and every swirl gleamed iridescently before me. Without a rumble the building of my faith quietly crumbled within my own heart.
“But passing here between being and nothingness, stumbling and clutching at the edge, I looked behind me with a grateful tremor upon the life that I have lived. Not with good judgment nor with desire are its twists and turns illumined, but with the even glow of the higher meaning which became apparent to me only later on.
“And now, with measuring cup returned to me, scooping up the living water, God of the universe! I believe again! Though I renounced you, you were with me!”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Gulag II (Harper and Row—1968)
III. It was Now Time to Certify the Word from God. What God had to say was to be revealed in the work of the potter.
It speaks of confidence. There is something to believe in. There is a dependable world.
It speaks of obedience. James Michener’s book, The Source, is a fictional account of Moses. El Shaddai said to Zadok-the-Righteous, “As long as you live old man, you will be free to ignore my commands. But in time, I will grow impatient and will speak to others.” Zadok: “My home is the desert. I was afraid to leave.” El Shaddai: ‘I waited because I knew that if you did not love your home, you would not love me either. I am glad that you are now ready.”
It speaks of faith. I watched with more than a smile as a little girl, 4 or 5 years old, waited at the baggage belt in the air terminal in New Orleans. Just the three of us waiting for luggage at Moisant. She asked about putting her stuffed bear on the belt. Her daddy assured her it would come back. You cannot imagine the look of concern on that father’s face as he waited with her for his word to be trustworthy.
IV. The Lesson had to do with Discovering a Destiny. “Cannot I do with you as this potter? . . . As clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.”
Let me remind you of your dependence. This is not what your contemporaries want you to consider. It is threatening to them.
Let me remind you of design. The will of God is not a trite “preacherism.” It is ultimate truth. A little boy in a small town heard a “circus” was coming. He did not know what it was but posters and talk convinced him. For weeks he saved pennies till he had 25 cents. On the day, he got to town and was told where to go for the beginning of the parade. He saw lions, tigers, bears, elephants with people riding on them, beautiful horses, acrobats, jugglers, clowns, the circus band. As the last person appeared, the little boy stepped into the street, put five nickels into the man’s hand, and ran home to tell what he had seen. He had not been to a circus but to a parade.
Let me remind you of discipline: the calloused feet; the tools—wheel, rasp, chisel, fire. The light then came on in the prophet’s brain. Life’s meaning is found on the shaping wheel of grace, tempered in the fires of God’s providence.
Conclusion
Herman Hegedorn wrote after the initial atom bomb blast in New Mexico: “I went to call on the Lord in His high house on the hill, my head full of 150 million people having to grow up overnight. If ever a people needed a miracle! The Lord!! He looked at me as a mountain might look at a molehill.” ‘So you want a miracle. My! My! You want a miracle. You want me to come sliding down a sunbeam and make 150 million self-willed egotists into 150 million cooperating angels.
‘Brother,’ said the Lord in a voice that shook the windows, ‘that isn’t the sort of universe you are living in. That isn’t the sort of God I am. . . .
‘Give me your life, and I will make it a spade to dig the foundation of a new world.’”