BLOG #6: YOUR TASK AS GOD’S MESSENGER (cont’d)

BLOG #6

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

Step 2:  CLARIFY YOUR TASK AS GOD’S MESSENGER (cont’d)

Our previous blog concluded with a promise to answer these questions:

·      Does God still call messengers today?

·      Does God still give His word directly to His messengers today?

·      How do we get God’s message from the Bible today?

Let’s review our diagram:

GOD’S WORD TODAY

At the bottom of our diagram you will see that the BIBLE (WORD OF GOD) serves as the foundation and source of all preaching and teaching today.  The Bible gives us the Word that God wants His messengers to deliver today.

And what is that Word?  That Word is summed up in the name CHRIST.  In other words, the main theme, the main Word, that God is communicating through the Bible is Christ.  This is what Christ Himself revealed after His resurrection.  Let’s read Luke 24:44-48:

44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.

Please note: The Old Testament Bible that Christ used was made up of three groups of books: the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.  The Law of Moses included the first five books of Moses also called the Torah.  The Psalms included what we usually describe as the poetical books today.  And the Prophets included the historical and prophetical books not included in the other two groups.  According to Christ, what was the main Word or theme of the Old Testament?  Christ.

How about the New Testament?  The apostle John summarizes for us the main Word or theme of the New Testament (John 20:30-31):

30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

John was primarily describing the contents of the Gospel, which he wrote, but we can take his description as also summarizing the main theme of the entire New Testament.  The main Word or theme that the New Testament, like the Old Testament, communicates is Christ.

It is true that the Old Testament prophets delivered messages from God that dealt with the historical situation of God’s people.  But over and beyond these historically relevant messages, there was the larger message and deeper meaning of the coming Christ.  In fact, Peter describes the struggle that Old Testament prophets went through as they sought to penetrate this larger message and deeper meaning (1 Peter 1:10-12):

10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

That larger message and deeper meaning in the Old Testament concerned Christ; it is that message and meaning that is now communicated clearly to us in the New Testament as the message of the Gospel.  Christ was God’s Word in the Old Testament and Christ is God’s Word in the New Testament today.

WHOM DOES GOD CALL TODAY

We are now ready to answer the question:  Whom does God call to deliver the message of the Gospel of Christ today?

We may confidently say that, as God called prophets in the Old Testament even so in the New Testament He still calls certain people to serve in special ministries today.  Ephesians 4:11-12 mentions these five special ministries: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

But let’s note very carefully that these five ministries are to equip the saints (all Christians) for the work of ministry, which means the edifying or building up of the body of Christ.  The whole body of Christ (all Christians) is called to ministry, and this ministry involves delivering the Word of the Gospel to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20).

Not just any Christian can serve as apostle or prophet or evangelist or pastor or teacher.  But all Christians are called to be witnesses.  This is the task and the promise that Christ gave just before His ascension in Acts 1:8:

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

And this is exactly what happened in the early church.  When intense persecution (led by the fanatical Pharisee named Saul, who later became, by God’s grace, the apostle Paul) drove the believers from Jerusalem, what do we read about them in Acts 8:1-4?

1 Now Saul was consenting to his (Stephen’s) death.  At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

Read verse 4 again:  Those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word!  These were ordinary believers, mind you.  Remember, the apostles remained in Jerusalem; they seemed to have been given some kind of immunity.

Ordinary believers went everywhere preaching the Word.  What Word was that?  Let’s pick up the thread of the story in Acts 11:19-21:

19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. 20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

Some of the believers felt somehow that they were to preach only to Jews; others preached to the Hellenists or Greeks.  And what was the topic of their preaching?  The Lord Jesus.

In fact, the word translated in the NKJV as “preach” in Acts 8:4 and Acts 11:20 is EUAGGELIZO, which literally means “to proclaim the good news (Gospel)”, from which word we have the English words “evangelize” and “evangelist”.

Ordinary believers preached (proclaimed) the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  All Christians equally share in the privilege and responsibility of evangelism, although some may be called, over and above this basic duty, to serve as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

The Gospel of Christ is God’s Word or message for the world today.  And all Christians are called to preach the Gospel of Christ!  Let’s not wait for persecution to force us to take up this privilege and responsibility.

Not only that.  Christians are expected to grow to maturity in such a way that eventually they also become teachers of God’s Word!  Look at Hebrews 5:12:

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

To whom was this letter to the Hebrews written?  Not to specially called people but to ordinary church members, who were actually struggling with spiritual immaturity.  Yet in spite of their immaturity, they were being reminded and reprimanded for not coming up to God’s plan for them to attain a maturity that would equip them to be teachers of God’s word in their turn.

 Paul’s charge to Timothy adds further dimension to this ideal of the mature Christian.  Let’s read 2 Timothy 2:2:

2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Granted that this charge was given to Timothy, who had a special calling to serve as pastor and teacher, the principle seems to hold for all Christians: Pass on to others what you have received. 

The Navigators have made this as a foundational principle for their disciple-making ministry emphasis.  They call it the 2-2 PRINCIPLE OF SPIRITUAL MULTIPLICATION.  The implementation of this principle involves passing on something up to the fourth generation, as represented by these persons in the verse:

Generation 1: Paul

Generation 2: Timothy

Generation 3: Faithful men

Generation 4:  Others

SUMMARY

To summarize:

(1)  Today, all Christians are called by God to be His messengers.

(2)  The message God entrusts to Christians is the Gospel Message of Christ.  This is main Word or theme of the Bible, which serves as the foundation and source of all Christian preaching and teaching.

In our next blog we will take up the question:

·      How do we get God’s message from the Bible today?

BLOG 5: YOUR TASK AS GOD'S MESSENGER

BLOG #5

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

Step 2:  CLARIFY YOUR TASK AS GOD’S MESSENGER.

In Step 1 we talked about how to engage your hearers’ attention.  We were really talking about how to present your message; we were talking about the mechanics of effective communication by using the four elements: HEY! YOU… SEE? SO.

But what good will it do if you know the HOW of communication, but you don’t have a MESSAGE to communicate?   Starting with the HOW is not the best place to start.  Now it’s time to start at the right place, and we will do this with the help of the diagram below (please enlarge accordingly on your computer). 

The right place to start is with the MESSENGER.  On the left hand side of our diagram, please note the two persons involved in communication – HEARER and MESSENGER? 

To preach and teach to change lives, you must be clear that your task as preacher/teacher is to be God’s messenger to deliver the God-given Word.

PREACH THE WORD

As a preacher/teacher, you are God’s messenger charged with the task to DELIVER GOD’S WORD.

Jeremiah 23:28, 29: 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. 29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (NIV)

2 Timothy 4:1-2:  I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at^] His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (NKJV, and so throughout unless otherwise indicated)

Personality, talent, age, and background (family, economic, social or educational) have absolutely nothing to do with becoming God’s messenger.  Everything depends on God’s choice and call.

THE STORY OF SAMUEL

It is worth reading again the familiar story about the call of Samuel when he was only a boy in 1 Samuel chapter 3.  Please note the comments inserted in brackets in bold letters.

 1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. [The message (“the word of the Lord”) was not learned in any school or seminary; it always came by “revelation”.] 2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 3 and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

6 Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!”

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.) [How did Samuel come to know the Lord and the word of the Lord?  Did he need to go to some school or seminary or some apprenticeship under an experienced prophet?  No, that had to be “revealed” to him by the Lord Himself.  And this account tells us about that first instance when God revealed Himself and His word to the boy Samuel.]

8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. [We have to give credit to the priest Eli.  I believe Eli knew somehow that God had set him and his sons aside, in spite of them being the divinely appointed hereditary priests and therefore the normal human vehicles for God’s revealed word.  Still, Eli showed no jealousy toward the boy – the BOY! mind you – and he wisely instructed Samuel how to respond to the Lord.  This response was, is and will continue to be the response of all God’s true messengers.  God’s messengers do not discover God’s message through their study and research; they wait on the Lord until He speaks to them.  During Jeremiah’s time God condemned the false prophets for doing exactly the opposite: Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the LORD, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:32) Note:  God did not send or command the false prophets; in other words, God had not revealed to them Himself and His word.  Contrast the false prophets with the true prophet Habakkuk; he could do no better than the boy Samuel did: I will stand my watch
and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. (Hab 21:1).  In other words, Habakkuk was saying, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.”]

10 Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

11 Then the LORD said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

15 So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. [This was the very first time that Samuel was entrusted with God’s word and he already confronted the temptation that all messengers of God, old or young, face: the temptation to be afraid of delivering the word because of what might happen to him (the messenger) or to the recipient (hearer) of the message.  The boy Samuel was no more susceptible to this fear than was the mature prophet Ezekiel, as God’s warning to him proves:  “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.  You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. (Ezekiel 2:6, 7)  Once more, we have to give credit to the priest Eli for encouraging and at the same time warning the boy Samuel about the awesome privilege and responsibility of bearing the word of the Lord.]     16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He answered, “Here I am.”

17 And he said, “What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

19 So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. [The only credentials of a messenger of God are: (1) God reveals Himself to the messenger; (2) God gives His word for the messenger to deliver.]

The story of the call of all of God’s prophets and messengers follow the basic pattern that we see in the calling of Samuel.  For comparative study, please read the story of Jeremiah’s call when he was probably only a teenager (Jeremiah 1).  Also compare the defense of Amos when the king questioned his authority to prophesy (7:12-15):

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos: “ Go, you seer! 
Flee to the land of Judah. 
There eat bread, and there prophesy.  13 But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.” 

14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: “ I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit.  15 Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘ Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’’

Amos is a classic example of a prophet who never had formal educational training.  He was an absolute layman as any layman could be in regard to religious position or profession.  What was his sole qualification?  One day as he was taking care of his sheep, God revealed Himself to him and entrusted him with His word and then commanded him to go and deliver the word to no less a high personage than the king himself!

We are not saying that education and training and background are not important; they are, in their right place.  But their presence neither qualifies nor their absence disqualifies a person from becoming God’s messenger.  God’s revelation of Himself and His word alone qualifies a person to become God’s messenger.

Study also the call of the persecutor Saul, who became Paul, God’s apostle (Acts 9).  Here was a man with great family background and with considerable education and training from the schools of his day coupled with tremendous natural gifts.  And we are sure that all of these enabled him to communicate God’s message in a most powerful way to different classes of society, from common people to royalty.  But he never forgot for one moment the basis of his authority, God alone.

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

In our next blog posting we will answer, among others, these questions:

(1)  Does God still call messengers today?

(2)  Does God still give His word directly to His messengers today?

(3)  How do we get God’s message from the Bible today?

SAMPLE SERMON #1: "BITING" THE HAND THAT FEEDS US?

BLOG #3

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

In the previous blog posting we talked about the four elements of effective communication:  HEY! YOU… SEE?  SO.  We saw that (very abbreviated though it may look) Paul’s sermon in Acts 17:22-31 utilized these four elements.  In the model sermon below we will see how these four elements are used.

SAMPLE SERMON #1:

SERMON TITLE:  "BITING" THE HAND THE FEEDS US?

SERMON TEXT:  JOHN 1:1-13

HEY!

Are you familiar with the saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you?”

This saying came alive vividly to me with the help of our Pekingese dog named Woofy.  One day we cooked some beef bones as a surprise treat for Woofy.  When I gave him one bone, he immediately started chewing on it furiously, it looked like he was wrestling with it.  It was such fun to watch Woofy so I approached him to get a better view.  Woofy’s reaction took me by surprise.  He stopped chewing and holding down the bone with his forepaws, he growled loudly at me with bared teeth.  My response probably surprised him too.   I shouted at him something like the following: “You, fool, I gave you that bone, what are you attacking me for?  And I’ve got more bones in the pot for you!” 

YOU…

Did you know that many times we often act towards God like Woofy did?  God’s hand is continually feeding us and providing for us and caring for us, but when He comes near to us we fight Him and get ready to bite His hand that is feeding us.

Today I want to show you from John 1:1-14 two ways that we can treat God.  One way is “biting” His hand that feeds us; another way is receiving His hand.  At the end of this study we will have the opportunity to decide which way we will choose to treat God.

SEE?

1.  “BITING” THE HAND

John chapter 1 tells us about the coming of God into the world in the person of His Son Jesus.  In this chapter Jesus is introduced to us as the Word (John 1:1); He is also described as the Light (John 1:8).  Now, let’s read John 1:9-11:

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.   He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.   He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Can anything be more sad about the coming of Jesus into the world?  Note verse 11:  “He (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” He first came to the Jews.  Now, who were the Jews?  They were God’s own chosen people, the descendants of Abraham, to whom God promised that the Messiah would come someday.  But how did majority of the Jews treat Jesus?  They did not receive Him; they rejected Him.  And their rejection was shown in the most cruel form: they crucified Him on the cross for claiming that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, promised by God.

This rejection was very tragic.  Why was it very tragic?  It was very tragic because they did not realize the full identity of the Person they were rejecting.  Exactly who was He?

John 1:1-5 lists for us several things about the One they were rejecting.  Before coming into the world, Jesus was called the Word, and as the Word He had the following attributes or characteristics:

(a)  Jesus the Word already existed in  the beginning of creation.  He did not begin to exist at the beginning of creation, as if He was the first one created by God.  In the beginning WAS the Word; in other words, in the beginning the Word already was there.

(b)  Jesus the Word was with God.

(c)  Jesus the Word was God; He Himself possessed the same God-nature as God the Father.

(d)  Through Jesus the Word, God created ALL things.  Without Jesus the Word, not one thing could have been created.

(e)  Life was located in Jesus the Word; this Life served as the Light of people.  The enemy Darkness threatened to swallow up everything and everybody, but the Light stood up against the Darkness and said, “Stop!  Thus far and no farther.”  Not only did the Light stop the darkness; the Light pushed back the darkness and defeated it.

(f)  And because Jesus the Word created everything, therefore He owned everything and everyone including the Chosen People the Jews (John 1:10-11).

This was the Person who approached the Jews.  But how did the Jews treat Him?  They rejected Him and killed Him.  This Person’s Hand was the Hand that fed them; He created them, He gave them life and light; He provided for them and protected them.  But what did the Jews do?  When Jesus came to their door, they turned Him away, drove Him out of the city, and nailed Him to a tree.

If you were there at that time, what would you have said to the Jews?  What would I have said?  I would have said to them, “You’re making the biggest mistake of your life!  You’re rejecting the very Person to whom you owe everything!  You are biting the very Hand that’s feeding you!”

But wait a minute.  We do not need to have been there when the Jews rejected Jesus.  Jesus is with us today and He is knocking at our door today.  What will you do with Jesus today? 

Aren’t you in danger of making the same tragic mistake that the Jews made two thousand years ago when Jesus came to them?

2.  RECEIVING THE HAND

But the story of the first coming of Jesus was not all tragic. Not everyone rejected Jesus.  Some believed in Him and received Him.  John 1:12 tells us:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

This is a very significant statement.  These people did two actions: they believed and received; they not only believed in Jesus, they also received Him.  Why is this statement significant?  It is significant because it tells us about the nature of true belief or genuine faith.  Genuine faith both believes in and receives Jesus.

There are people who claim to believe in Jesus.  But they are not willing to receive Him into their lives.  Their belief, their faith, is merely in the mind, merely intellectual, merely theoretical.  Their faith is merely head knowledge that doesn’t affect the way they live.

There was a story of a famous acrobat who had the great ability to walk on a tightrope successfully.  One time a tightrope was installed from one side of the Niagara Falls to the other.  The acrobat asked the crowd:  “How many believe I can cross the Niagara Falls by walking on this tightrope?”  Everybody shouted, “We believe!”  And that’s what the acrobat went on to do successfully.  Next, he asked the crowd, “How many believe I can cross the Niagara Falls by walking on this tightrope with a chair balanced on my shoulders?”  Again the crowd shouted, “We believe!”  And once again the acrobat successfully demonstrated to the crowd his great ability by walking across to the other side with a chair balanced on his shoulders.  Finally, he asked the crowd, “How many believe that I can cross the Niagara Falls by walking this tightrope with a chair balanced on my should with a man sitting on the chair?”  And the crowd roared with their greatest approval and said, “We believe!”  Then the acrobat asked, “Who wants to volunteer to sit on the chair?”  And a hushed silence fell on the crowd.  Yes, they all believed; but nobody wanted to act on their belief.

In our relationship to Jesus, the twin actions of believing and receiving are very important.  The person who truly believes in Jesus will receive Him; only the person who receives Jesus truly believes in Him.

Why is that?

Because the heart of every person is like a kingdom; and in our heart there is a throne.  Because of sin, guess who is sitting as king or queen on that throne?  The big, proud “I” – ME, MYSELF, MY SHADOW AND I – sits as the king/queen on the throne.  In fact, do you know what is the root meaning of SIN?  How do you spell SIN – S – I – N – right?  What letter is in the middle?  The letter “I”!

Do you know why most of the Jews rejected Jesus?  They realized that if they truly believed in Jesus, they must also receive Him as their Lord.  And they were not willing to do that.  They were not willing to get off the throne of their life and surrender the throne to Jesus.  This was the real issue:  Who will continue to sit on the throne of my life?

How about you?  Do you claim to believe in Jesus?  But are you ready and willing to receive Him as Lord and Master and King of your life?  Jesus came to the world to be our Savior and Lord.  As Savior He saves us from sin; as Lord He will lead us and empower us to live a life of holiness and love and service to God. 

Let’s note what Jesus gives to you when you believe in Him and receive Him.  Let’s please read John 1:12-13:

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

(a)  First of all, Jesus gives you the RIGHT to become a child of God.  Many people have the mistaken idea that every human being is a child of God and they have a right to call God their Father.  This was true in the beginning.  But when our first parents sinned, they and all their children after them (that includes you and me and everybody in the world today) lost that right.  That’s why when Jesus came into the world He told people their real condition.  He said in John 8:44:  “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” But the moment a person believes in Jesus and receives Him into their life, that right is restored.

(b)  Secondly, Jesus gives you the POWER to live as a child of God.  Some translations translate the phrase “the right to become children of God” as “the power to become children of God”.  This is because the same word does have this double meaning: Jesus gives you both the right and the power to become a child of God.  Jesus gives you both the position and the ability of being a child of God.  You see, to have the position without the corresponding ability is useless.  What good is your position when you don’t have the ability to enjoy it?  It requires power to live as a child of God.  Jesus gives you this power.  How does Jesus give this power?

(c)  Thirdly, Jesus gives you a new NATURE through a new spiritual rebirth.  When you believe in Jesus and receive Him in your life, God gives you a spiritual rebirth.  In John 3:3 Jesus emphasized the absolute need for spiritual rebirth: In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  And this is how Jesus gives you the power to live as a child of God.  When you are born again spiritually, you receive a new nature from God with new desires and new motivations and new goals.  Not only that, God’s own life will come to live in your heart through the Holy Spirit coming to indwell your new nature.  This is what Jesus meant in John 3:5:  Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Romans 8:15-16 also tells us about the indwelling Holy Spirit: For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. and by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

SO.

We are talking about biting the hand that feeds you.

Majority of the Jewish people did not realize that in rejecting Jesus they were biting the hand that fed them.  But what a tragic loss for them!  They did not know that in rejecting Jesus they also forfeited the great gifts He came to give them. 

However, praise God, a minority made the right decision.  They believed in Jesus and received Him.  And what great blessings they received!  They received the right to become children of God.  They received the power to live as children of God.  And they received a new spiritual nature that was indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

Today, you and I face the same decision.  Jesus is standing in front of us right now.  This Jesus is our Creator.  He is the Giver and Sustainer of our life; every breath we take and every beat of our heart, the air and the sunshine and the rain and everything all around us that make this world a beautiful place to live… everything comes from Him.  Jesus’ Hand is the Hand that feeds us.

The challenge for you and me is this:  Will we reject Him, will we bite the Hand that feeds us?  Or will we believe in Him and receive Him in our hearts? 

Remember, to reject Jesus will mean the loss of the great gifts He comes to give.

To believe in Jesus and receive Him will mean that we will enjoy all that He came to give.

What is your decision today?

RE: TULIP, KING JAMES VERSION ONLY

A couple of friends asked about what I think about the TULIP and about the KING JAMES VERSION ONLY.   Here's how I have resolved these two issues for myself.

A.  ABOUT THE TULIP...

The bottomline issue is:  HOW DO WE RECONCILE (1) DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY and (2) HUMAN FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY.

We cannot humanly reconcile both.  Just like the TRINITY, we must believe that:

(1)  The Bible teaches DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:3-11; etc.).  Calvinism views everything from this perspective.

(2)  The Bible equally teaches HUMAN FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY (John 3:16; Revelation 22:17, etc.).

To paraphrase one wise old preacher:

"Preach to sinners the WHOSOEVER GOSPEL, emphasizing the need for everyone to make a decision to believe and receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Build up Christians, assuring them that they have been CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD and challenging them to persevere in following Jesus because God will surely bring the work He has begun in them."

Another wise preacher said:

Above the front door of the church is written in bold letters:  WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME.  After the person believes and enters the church, he/she looks back and sees above the same door of the church on the inside, in equally bold letters these words are written:  CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

Still another said:

Preach the Gospel to sinners always assuming that every person in the audience has been chosen by God.

Still another:

Our job as preachers is to preach WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME; God's job is to convict sinners and grant them the grace of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us do our job the best way we know how in the power of the Holy Spirit; we can be sure that God will do His job with perfect wisdom and perfect power and perfect sovereignty.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, NOT through faith in any doctrine (Calvinism or Arminianism).  

B.  ABOUT THE KING JAMES VERSION ONLY.

(1)  Only the original Hebrew and Greek Bible was inspired; no translation is inspired.  The danger of the KING JAMES VERSION ONLY teaching is that it elevates the KJV translation to the level of the inspired Word of God.  

(2)  The KJV was an English translation of the Hebrew & Greek Bible done in 1611.  1611 English is Shakespeare English; the 1611 meanings of many English words have changed dramatically. For example, "conversation" (Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet 1:15) did not mean talking with one another but "manner of life".  The New King James Version updates the 1611 English.  Standard modern translations aim  to present the Hebrew and Greek into today's languages.

(3)  The original copy of the Hebrew and Greek Bible written by the inspired writers no longer exists.  Today we have only copies of the original; some copies are closer in time to the original copy; many are copies of copies which are more distant from the original.  Through  the science of textual criticism, scholars have been able to determine up to 99% accuracy what the original inspired writers actually wrote.  The KJV was based on late manuscripts (copies more distant from the original); most modern translations are based on earlier manuscripts (copies closer to the original).  But there are NO MAJOR BIBLE DOCTRINES affected by the differences between the earlier and the later manuscripts.

(4)  God has used the KJV to save souls and build up believers; God is also using other translations to accomplish the same purpose.

(5)  VERY IMPORTANT:  We must NOT divide or fight over which translation to use; DO let us unite in preaching the Word of God from the version we are most confident in.  Let us not despise or attack one another regarding the Bible version we use.  Let us adopt Paul's attitude in Philippians 1:18 (paraphrased): "What then?  Only that in every way, whether in King James Version only or in another translation, Christ is preached,  and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice."