by Guest Blogger, Shawn Lazar, via Grace Evangelical Society on May 12, 2021

Most religions are extremely complicated because their works salvation systems depend on you following intricate laws, rituals, and to-do lists in the hopes of climbing the ladder to heaven.

By contrast, Biblical Christianity (and, by implication, Free Grace Theology) is simple.

How so?

I think you can summarize the Christian’s “duty” with these three words:

1. Believe. There is one condition to have everlasting life: believe in Jesus. Most religions teach the need to do works to be saved. Not Jesus. On the contrary, Jesus did all the work on the cross so you can have eternal life as a gift (Eph 2:8-9). Jesus paid the price for salvation so that you can have it for free. How do you receive it? By simply believing Jesus for it: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
2. Abide. After you believe, the Christian adventure really begins. God wants you to grow in your friendship with Christ (John 15:15). He wants you to not only have life, but to have abundant life (John 10:10). How can you do that? By abiding in Jesus. That means reading God’s Word and letting Jesus’ teachings “sink in.” Listen to Him. Think about what He taught. Meditate on those words, letting them challenge, correct, inspire, and otherwise transform your thinking. If you abide in Him, you will be fruitful: I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples (John 15:5-8).
3. Love. What does God require you to do? Love your neighbors. Think of it this way – God gives the believer salvation for free so you won’t waste your life being religious, trying to save yourself. Instead, you can get on with the business of loving your neighbors, however they need to be loved. If you see a need that you can meet, do something about it. Care for your family, feed the poor, clothe the naked, support widows, be a friend to orphans, write to prisoners, and do whatever other good needs to be done: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:34).

Biblical Christianity is simple, but I did not say it is easy.

It is hard to believe that Jesus gives you eternal life as a free gift.

It takes years of abiding in God’s Word for it to impact all your thinking and living.

And as you know, the world is full of endless needs, so loving your neighbors can require enormous self-sacrifice.

No, living the Christian life is not easy.

But it is simple: believe, abide, and love.

Olympians turning on the flag.  Men suing to use ladies restrooms.  Competing riots. Political finger pointing and name calling rather than problem solving. Etc., etc., etc.!  Other than not wanting people to love God, why do you think Satan is working so hard to tear apart the very fabric of our society?  I think it’s because he hates the freedom that we have.  He wants to see us under the control of a tyrant.  And anarchy is the surest way to bring that about! Our God, on the other hand, wants us to be free!  It’s interesting to note how He starts out the Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”  God sent ten plagues, He killed the firstborn of Egypt, He crushed Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, all so that His people could be FREE!  Then the first thing He did is give His people a set of moral instructions to live by, because we can’t live freely without morality!  Immorality leads to chaos, chaos leads to mass destruction, mass destruction leads to a willingness to accept tyranny!  It’s the same plan followed by Mao, Stalin, and Hitler, all of whom were led by their father, Satan, and I’m sad to say our country and our world is marching to that same drum beat.  I’m hoping (and the news on the political and science fronts lead me to believe) that Christ’s return is near, but I have to also recognize that other generations have believed the same thing as they’ve watched their nations crumble.  If Christ doesn’t return, we better work and pray for national revival.  We can’t last the way we are going. 

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” 

Revelation 22:20-21

As I sit to compose this blog on Thursday the 24th, early reports are leaking out of Florida that a building “pancaked” in last night’s storms. Our hearts and prayers go out for the 99 (at this moment) who are still unaccounted for. By the time you read this on Friday, or later, much more may be known and the personal stories may be revealed of both victims and heroes. I trust many will be saved and SAVED.  

As I read the initial story, my thought went to the parable in Matthew 7 of the house built on sand. That is, of course, not a condemnation of this particular building, but more of a reassurance that my faith is built on something untouched by any outside circumstances, including a storm big enough to bring down a giant man-made structure. If you are reading this as a believer in Christ, aren’t you glad that your Rock has the power over any storm, whether it be in the sky above or in your own heart? Yet, if you know anything about Florida, this was a storm coming off the ocean, where the biggest storms of all are born and from whence, perhaps, the greatest illustration of our assurance is born!

Have you ever visited a naval dock? Have you ever stood and looked at an anchor? Not one of those two-bit jobs on Uncle Bill’s fishing boat – I mean AN ANCHOR.

Anchors and their accompanying chains, even in the 1st century, had to be heavy enough to hold the ships to which they were connected. However, a ship that dropped its anchor in a storm might have to drag it for a while until it caught onto something that would hold it, something stronger than the tug of the ship on a storm-tossed sea! Not quite a sure thing. Ships that pulled close to land used a different tactic. They put the anchor on a smaller boat called a forerunner, and sent it to shore with a crew who would anchor it securely, EVEN IN A HURRICANE!

Take a minute right now as you consider whatever storm or storms are beating on your heart. I want you to read this verse aloud, considering every word, keeping in mind Who, in the Hebrew mind (and in truth), is behind that veil!

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” 

Hebrews 6:19-20 NASB1995

Sunday I preached on the parable of the two servants in Matthew 18, the one in which a servant who had been forgiven a GDP-sized debt, then failed to forgive a home mortgage-sized debt.  Afterward someone asked me if we need to forgive someone who hasn’t apologized/repented.  It’s a great question and, biblically, seems to have a two-part answer.

Part One – Vertical Forgiveness

In last week’s sermon I mentioned the principle Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer:

  “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’  For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.”   

Matthew 6:12-15

Mark has Jesus repeating this teaching while talking about faith in prayer:

“Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.  And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses.”

Mark 11:24-25

In both of these passages, Jesus makes no mention of the other party, He just tells us to “forgive” – let it go, send it away!

In a similar vein Paul mentions forgiving others “as Christ has forgiven you,” in both Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13, as a component of the Christian character that ought to be part of our daily lives.  So yes, on the one hand, I must forgive my brother or sister regardless of apology so as to be in fellowship with my Father in heaven above.

Part Two – Horizontal Forgiveness

The parable in Matthew 18, concerning the two servants, is preceded by a discussion about what to do when a brother sins against you.  Jesus instructs us to go to him privately and try to get him to hear us (18:15).  Should the result of this meeting be one of refusal to hear (apologize, agree, repent), then there are a series of steps, the final one of which is excommunication.  We see these steps played out, sometimes rather drastically, in the early church. So we know God is serious.  I do understand the root of the question, that being that sins which are obvious to us ought to be obvious to the sinner.  However, in this teaching we who are offended are instructed to initiate.  If we don’t think the offense rises to the level of confrontation or if we are too hesitant to confront, then forgiveness is our only other option.

All that said, conditional forgiveness is a “thing,” but it’s an infrequent thing in our lives compared to how often hurts are never confronted and, therefore, just need to be “let go” because they only damage the one holding on to them, not the one we are holding them against, as much as we like to imagine otherwise!

Yours, Because I’m His,

Pastor Scott

“Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Most of us have heard those words dozens of times on “Perry Mason” or “Law and Order.”  Not many of us hear those words in person. I’m almost at the end of my sixth decade, and I’ve never been asked that question! During the first 245 years of America it’s been a safe bet that if you keep your nose clean, you’ll not stand before a judge…. But times they are a’changin’ my friends! The truth we are mandated, by The Highest Authority, to proclaim may very soon become illegal, at which time some of us could end up being asked those words, which leads us to the question:

Does Jesus absolutely forbid oaths?

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin. 

(Matthew 5:33-37)

Clearly, Jesus wants us to be people of our word.  Clearly He does not want us to frivolously be swearing that we will keep some promise or fulfill some obligation.  Remember, “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye?” But did He forbid us from swearing to His name in court?  

If all He ever said was here in chapter 5, it certainly would seem that way. Fortunately for us, the issue Jesus was confronting wasn’t so much seriously binding court testimony as it was a practice scholars today call “casuistry,” which was an elaborate hierarchy of things by which to “swear.” He brings it up again in Matthew 23 and, in that series of woes, He deconstructs their hierarchy and says in the end that all oaths are to God and God alone. While it doesn’t leave the reader feeling warm and fuzzy, it does leave one feeling that in a very formal setting (i.e., a court of law) swearing an oath to God is acceptable. That said, it’s not to be part of our everyday life!

Pastor Scott

I love to collect stories that illustrate spiritual truths.  Often I even go so far as to print them out and bring them to the pulpit with me, but for whatever reason, that’s as far as I get.  Here are two I really wish I had read this past Sunday as we dealt with self-righteousness (a.k.a., thinking too much of myself).  Pastor Scott

On a visit to the Beethoven museum in Bonn, a young American student became fascinated by the piano on which Beethoven had composed some of his greatest works. She asked the museum guard if she could play a few bars on it; she accompanied the request with a lavish tip, and the guard agreed. The girl went to the piano and tinkled out the opening of the Moonlight Sonata. As she was leaving she said to the guard, “I suppose all the great pianists who come here want to play on that piano.”

The guard shook his head. “Padarewski, Poland’s Maestro was here a few years ago and he said he wasn’t worthy to touch it.”

Source Unknown

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I am the least of the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:9

I am the very least of all the saints. Ephesians 3:8

I am the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15

Humility and a passion for praise are a pair of characteristics which together indicate growth in grace. The Bible is full of self-humbling (man bowing down before God) and doxology (man giving praise to God). The healthy heart is one that bows down in humility and rises in praise and adoration. The Psalms strike both these notes again and again. So too, Paul in his letters both articulates humility and breaks into doxology. Look at his three descriptions of himself quoted above, dating respectively from around A.D. 59, 63, and 64. As the years pass he goes lower; he grows downward! And as his self-esteem sinks, so his rapture of praise and adoration for the God who so wonderfully saved him rises.

Undoubtedly, learning to praise God at all times for all that is good is a mark that we are growing in grace. One of my predecessors in my first parochial appointment died exceedingly painfully of cancer. But between fearful bouts of agony, in which he had to stuff his mouth with bedclothes to avoid biting his tongue, he would say aloud over and over again: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1). That was a passion for praise asserting itself in the most poignant extremity imaginable.

Cultivate humility and a passion for praise if you want to grow in grace. 

James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.

Despite the fact that the pandemic has kept many of us from our normal course of activity for many months, I’m not sensing (or experiencing) a particular impression that we are emerging from it refreshed and well rested.  If anything, I see a lot of drained faces (at least in the mirror)!  I suspect that it’s because while our bodies may not have been as active during this time of waiting, our minds more than made up for it by being overactive!  I’m not a doctor, but I have the same access as you do to the GREAT Physician’s Book. Consider His words and some commentary from a devotional printed a few years ago. – Pastor Scott

Mark 6

7 And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; 8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt— 9 but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.” 10 And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. 11 Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” 12 They went out and preached that men should repent. 13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them…. 30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.   (Emphasis added.)

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.

Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, “Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies.”

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.”

People are also like that. That’s why we all need to take time to rest. In today’s Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry. And in the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us when He “rested from all His work” (Gen.2:3).

Shouldn’t we take His example seriously? Start by setting aside a special time to relax physically and renew yourself emotionally and spiritually. You will be at your best for the Lord if you have taken time to loosen the bow.

Our Daily Bread, June 6, 1994.

I’ve been teaching on the Parables of Jesus.  I found this “Parable from History” that I think speaks for itself.  Pastor Scott

In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. “Your Majesty,” said Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king.” “I understand,” said Henry, “the rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” “Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.”

When King Henry died, a statement was written: “The King learned to rule by being obedient.” When we tire of our roles and responsibilities, it helps to remember God has planted us in a certain place and told us to be a good accountant or teacher or mother or father. Christ expects us to be faithful where He puts us, and when He returns, we’ll rule together with Him. 

In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote that the cross was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.  Because of that, I’m always loath to allow other potential stumbling blocks (or foolishness) into my preaching/teaching ministry, BUT I must never shy away from warning against cultural abominations that are potentially slipping into the way Christians think.  Jim Denison, out of Southwest Baptist, does a pretty good job of doing biblical, non-partisan analysis.  Please, for the soul of your family, give this a read.

Pastor Scott

 How Satan Is Using the Lie that Personal ‘Authenticity’ Is the Pathway to Personal, Social Flourishing

Jim Denison | Denison Forum on Truth and Culture | Wednesday, May 12, 2021

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week that it will prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Their statement requires healthcare providers and other organizations that receive funding from HHS to provide medical services to transgender individuals. Such services include sex-change procedures for any and all patients who request them—even children.

The HHS announcement does note that its Office for Civil Rights “will comply with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” However, if the so-called Equality Act now before the Senate becomes law, such appeals to religious liberty will be expressly forbidden. In that case, faith-based hospitals would be required to perform sex-change surgeries on children and adults.

This is just the latest step in a spiritual conflict that involves every evangelical Christian in America.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT CULTURAL BOOK OF THE YEAR”

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, by historian Carl Trueman, is being called “the most important cultural book of the year (maybe even decade).” I just finished other reading and began the book yesterday; so far, I would have to agree.

For example, Trueman utilizes the work of sociologist Philip Rieff to offer a concise explanation of our cultural progression from the ancient world to today. Rieff notes that we have sought meaning and purpose in four stages:

1.     Political man: the Greco-Roman ideal of people engaged in community life.

2.     Religious man: the medieval ideal of people engaged in church services and religious pilgrimages.

3.     Economic man: the modern ideal of people finding their sense of self through financial activity and material success.

4.     Psychological man: the postmodern ideal of people finding their identity through the inward quest for personal, psychological happiness.

Trueman is quick to note that this formulation is far too simplistic on its own. For example, the Apostle Paul was clearly aware of his inner self and its challenges (cf. Romans 7), as were St. Augustine in his Confessions and Martin Luther in his struggles with personal failings. However, Rieff’s stages do describe the larger narrative leading to the present moment.

According to Trueman, the psychological stage created the cultural context for the sexual revolution. Friedrich Nietzsche taught us to cast off social norms and restraints that inhibit us; Karl Marx taught us to resist the oppression of ruling classes; Sigmund Freud taught us that we are at core sexual beings and that our sexual desires are decisive for who we are.

As a result, we are urged to seek personal authenticity with regard to our sexual orientation and gender identity and to reject any individuals or institutions who inhibit us. This worldview has come to dominate secular society and seeks to replace the biblical worldview it rejects.

HOW SATAN WAGES WAR TODAY

Now, let’s recast this narrative in the context of spiritual warfare.

The Bible warns us that “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). As a result, we must “resist him, standing firm in your faith” (v. 9). Like lions in the wild, Satan adopts strategies that are suited to the victims he seeks to “devour.”

During the “political” phase of Western history, he used persecution by the Roman Empire to attack the Christian movement. The Holy Spirit responded by leading Roman leaders such as Constantine to faith in Christ and the legalization of Christianity, which led to the medieval “religious phase.”

Satan responded by seeking to institutionalize the faith, turning Christianity into rules and activities rather than a personal relationship with a personal Savior. The Spirit responded with Luther’s call of sola fidei (“only faith”) and the success of the Protestant Reformation.

Satan responded by seeking to commercialize the faith, turning the Christian movement into a transactional quest for economic and material gain. The Spirit responded with the evangelical movement’s emphasis on salvation and transformational spirituality.

Now Satan is responding by seeking to psychologize the culture with the lie that personal “authenticity” is the pathway to personal and social flourishing. This strategy takes us back to the first stage as evangelicals face antagonism and opposition from those who caricature us as dangerous to society and seek to replace our worldview with theirs.

There are clearly exceptions to my narrative, such as medieval and Reformation-era Catholics whose faith was deeply personal and evangelicals whose spirituality is coldly transactional. But my arc illustrates the spiritual battle in which we find ourselves today.

“YOUR COMMANDMENT MAKES ME WISER THAN MY ENEMIES”

How do we respond to a culture that condemns us as opponents of the authenticity it demands? One answer is to be just as authentic as believers as our opponents seek to be as secularists.

The key to being authentically Christian, of course, is being authentically with Christ.

Paul said of Christians, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Spirit of Christ lives in us as his temple (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16). But we must cooperate with the Spirit in thinking like Jesus: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

How? Begin your day by meeting God in his word. Ask him to speak to you through Scripture, agreeing with J. I. Packer that the Bible is “God preaching.” Memorize God’s word regularly, then ask the Spirit to bring biblical truth to mind as you face the challenges and opportunities of your day. Pray for the strength to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

If you will say with the psalmist, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97), you will be able to testify, “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me” (v. 98).

Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that “a man is what he thinks about all day long.”

What—or who—will you think about today?

 Publication date: May 12, 2021

https://www.denisonforum.org/about/denison-forum/

Happy Mother’s Day

The following was written, in the “voice” of Paul Harvey, by Heather Sears, a young mom of three on her seventh Mother’s Day.  ~Pastor Scott

SO GOD MADE A MOTHER

And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a mother.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up throughout the night, nurse and change the baby, get little sleep, work all next day, attend the kids events, fix dinner and then clean up the kids for bed and the kitchen and stay up past midnight going over and prepping for what needs to be done the next day.” So God made a mother.

“I need somebody with arms strong enough to carry groceries in one and a child in another, be strong enough to watch them leave 18 years later and yet gentle enough to wipe all their tears and kiss their boo boos. Somebody to discipline, make sure they have clothes to wear, run errands, do three things at once, and to take pictures of every special moment. Tame the kids from fighting with one another, and tell them that God is watching – and mean it.” So God made a mother.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a sick child. And help them throw up in the bucket. Then wipe their mouth and say, ‘I think I’m getting sick, too.’ I need somebody who can feed, dress and get their kids off to school on time, take them all to the grocery store with her, who can plan birthday parties, buy Christmas gifts for everyone and host a holiday dinner for 12. And who, by school time and summer break, will finish her 40-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pained from cleaning the house and being climbed on all day, put in another 72 hours.” So God made a mother.

God had to have somebody compassionate enough to be there for their first heartbreak, spend their bonus check on a trip to Disneyland, and yet stop and offer a hug to another mother who has hung her head in frustration and remind her that she’s doing a great job. So God made a mother.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to stand up for her child who’s been bullied at school, or herself when she’s been harassed at work,  yet gentle enough to tame teenage tongues and potty train a toddler, and wipe her own tears and tell herself it’ll all be okay. One who will dance in the rain and squeal in laughter with her kids. It has to be somebody who’d work on letters and numbers and reading and not cut corners. One who would have the embarrassing and private talks with them and stand by their curfew, hold her children in her arms and sing them a lullaby,  yet bake cookies and say ‘yes’ when they ask to lick the bowl.  Somebody to teach kids how to play sports, cook, clean, have compassion and confidence, not to give into temptation, be independent, be true to who they are, teach them chores and color in the lines, ask for help but not give up, have common sense, tie their shoes, and reply to my daughter, ‘Yes, you can do anything a boy can do,’ and finish a hard week’s work eating a big ice cream cone with sprinkles. I need somebody who’d hold a family together with the soft strong bonds of love and forgiveness, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply with smiling eyes when her daughter says she wants to spend her life ‘doing what mom does.’” So God made a mother.