If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied

I have heard many people (Christians) say that if it wasn’t all true, they would still live the Christian life. I could not do that! I could not base my life on a lie, or a delusion or whatever it was if it was not all true. It’s not that there are not wonderful and amazing teachings and great wisdom that comes out of the Scriptures, but I know enough about delusion, to know that it’s always destructive.

Take for example the hope of the afterlife that is mentioned in today’s heading. Christ teaching about the afterlife contains statements that imply that there are only two eternal destinies, either heaven, or hell. And the same statements imply that in the end we choose. Knowing what I know, and believing what I believe, causes me great anguish at times. Jesus taught that the way to eternal life is narrow, and there are few who choose it. On the other hand the way to eternal condemnation is broad and there are many who find it. If this is not true, then it is a huge guilt trip. But if it is true, and I believe that it is, then many many people that I know are likely to end up in the wrong place. At times this is unbearable. I know it’s not ultimately my responsibility, but it is my responsibility to speak when I am called to speak, to give an answer for the hope that is within me, and to live a life that adorns the gospel. This is greatly humbling because, as the scripture says, in many things we all fail (James 3:2).

So coming to the verse, if our only hope is in the here and now, then we are indeed deserving of pity. But in this quote from 1st Corinthians 15, Paul goes on to say that Christ has risen from the dead, implying the fact of resurrection. In fact the resurrection of Jesus Christ is perhaps the most important tenant of Christianity. If it’s true, then we can believe everything that he said. If it’s not true then we can dismiss it.

In fact the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, is the most well attested fact in history. Here is not the place to go in any depth into the apologetics of this, except to ask what was it that changed the disciples from cowards that ran away, into men that turned the world upside down. And also to ask if they knew it wasn’t true, why would they die for a lie, as most of them did?

I have made it a point to study the various debates about science and faith. And I can see that many have believed the myth that science has disproved God. And it is a myth, those who believe it are greatly myth-staked (sorry). The Scripture clearly says that the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen by the things that are made (i.e. us - Romans 1:20), and for this reason we are without excuse. In the words of Paul, I beg you to be reconciled to Christ. Lord have mercy on us all. Amen

You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You

Who do you go to when you when you are hurt? I think we must all have this tendency to lash out when we are hurt. The saying that hurt people, hurt people seems to be true. I recently got some insect bites, and it was driving me crazy with the itching. I picked at it and picked at it, and continued to pick at it, scratching the scabs off and making a wound out of my hurt. Eventually I found a cream that I could apply that stopped the itching, and it’s now starting to heal.

If I have found the cream earlier, my hurt would have been healed earlier, and I found the Lord speaking to me through this simple experience. In the physical, it’s more than possible to take a hurt that the body could easily heal, and by failing to take care of it turn a tiny wound into a major problem. As in the physical, so in the spiritual.

What I am trying to say is that the way that we deal with what life throws at us can hurt us, but if we deal with it in the right way, will not ultimately harm us. I am using hurt here, by analogy with the physical, as a wound that easily heals, and I am using harm as a wound that could become permanent. So how are we to deal with what life throws at us without it becoming a permanent wound?

The promise of perfect peace is given a) to whose mind is stayed on him, and b) who trust in him. This last week for me, has had elements of both joy, and pain. My initial tendency always seems to be to concentrate on the pain, and forget the things that brought me joy. The Lord brought this verse (Isaiah 26:3) to my mind this morning, and I at once sought to align my thinking with what he is telling me through it. Since I have learned to trust him, this is much easier than it used to be. God is always, and has always been trustworthy. This is not the issue, the issue is my experiencing his trustworthiness. And it starts with choosing to trust him, and in this way little by little, gaining the experience of his trustworthiness. It builds and builds in my life and, as I say, with the ongoing experience, it has become easier to trust him. In addition, it has become easier to take authority over my thoughts, and bring them captive into obedience to him, and so to claim his promise.

Father, I thank you that you are always trustworthy, and that as I choose to trust you, I increasingly experience your trustworthiness. This draws me closer to you, and helps me when life gets hard to choose to look to you, to look above the circumstances, and to increasingly come into the peace that passes understanding that only you can give. In Jesus name amen

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This morning I want to protest the way that some people interpret the Bible in general, and this verse in particular. So let me ask for example, is it possible for me, through Christ, to jump high enough to join the cow that jumped over the moon? Clearly not, and if you dispute this, I probably had very little to say to you.

This is not to dispute the existence of miracles, but what I’m trying to say is that an over literal interpretation of this verse can lead a person into trying to do the impossible. In particular I have heard, as an application of this verse, that through Christ I can restore any broken relationship. But this is not right. First of all, if the Lord were into restoring all broken relationships, He would have to violate many people’s self-determination. We can choose to reject Him, for example, and He will allow that! It would also violate Scripture. We are told for example, that as much as possible within us to live at peace with all. The clear implication, is that this is not always possible even with the help of Christ.

So what does it mean? The mistake that many people make, is to take a verse out of context. And the above false application of this verse, is doing just that. In the context of this verse from Philippians 4:13, Paul is saying, that he has learned in whatsoever state to be content (verse 11). He goes on to say (verse 12), that he knows how to deal with life when it is full, and he knows how to deal with life in the midst of suffering.

So what Paul is saying here, is that through Christ who helps and strengthens him, he is able to handle, and handle all that life throws at him. It’s encouraging to me, that Paul tells us that he had to learn this. You and I may not have arrived at this state yet. But as for me, with the help of Christ who strengthens me, I am learning, and I will learn to not only survive, but to thrive, and to be content, knowing that as I turn everything over to Him moment by moment, He will guide lead, and direct.

Father, the serenity prayer is so appropriate here. Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference in Jesus name amen.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths

We can take it for granted that God is far more willing to lead, guide and direct us, then we are to be led, guided and directed. But He will not force His guidance on us, we have to acknowledge Him in all our ways. But what does this mean?

The previous verse, verse 5 of Proverbs chapter 3, admonishes us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, and to not trust in our own understanding. So part of what it means to acknowledge him in all our ways is to trust that He knows best, and to yield to the guidance that He is so willing to give us.

I remember a young lady years ago now, who had just become a Christian. She told me she was willing to trust God in everything except her relationships. In fact she had set her heart on hooking up with a man who in fact had no interest in her. And of course it turned out badly. So we need to trust him in all, underline all, our ways.

Part of what I’m illustrating here, is that many times we think we know what is best, but his ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Jesus told us that unless we become as a little child we cannot enter the kingdom. He is talking about the trust of a little child, and the willingness to follow and obey even when they don’t understand.

I have found that I need to be particularly careful when I want, or don’t want, something. And I have found the best way to acknowledge Him in this particular instance, is as much as is possible within me, to put my will into neutral. That is I wrestle with the problem until I am wiling to do, or not to do the particular thing I am wrestling with. When I do this I don’t always get what I would prefer, but in the long run it always seems to turn out for the best.

Father, I need your help in acknowledging you in all my ways. It is very easy for me to fool myself into thinking I know what you want in a particular situation. Holy Spirit, I give you permission to interrupt my life. Help me always be willing to fulfill the condition of this promise, in order that I may claim your direction in my life. I choose to trust that you know best in Jesus name amen.

you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

If you are a Christian then, according to this verse from Romans 8:15, you have received the Spirit of adoption. Like any other gift, it has to be received in order to be appropriated. For many of us, this is no small task, since it involves overcoming the orphan spirit which is well established in our hearts.

There are a number of things that conspire together that lay behind this phenomenon. First of all we live in a very fragmented society. Divorce is rampant, single-parent families are the norm rather than the exception, children are alienated from their fathers, and fathers from the children. Conventional wisdom, the spirit of the age if you like, basically says that fathers are no longer needed. The only thing that the male is useful for, according to this wisdom, is for impregnation of the female! But it’s a huge lie!

And many of us have bought into this lie, so if we are not needed, then there is no need to take responsibility for our offspring! The result is that the children feel abandoned by their father, and what tends to happen then, is that inner vows are made such as “I choose not to need my father,” and the rift is never healed.

Psychologist tell us about our inner child, the little boy or the little girl within us that cries out for acceptance and love, but doesn’t find it. I myself had an orphan spirit for the first 20 years of my Christian life. I sought my identity in terms Christian service. I can look back now and describe myself as a Christian workaholic. This, together with a number of things I don’t need to go into here, resulted in a breakdown in 1995. This was followed by the breakdown of my 2nd marriage and my geographical separation from my children.

I would never have chosen this to happen, but if I had not, then I would not have discovered who I am. In other words since that time through much trial, temptation and pain I eventually threw myself onto the Lord. It is said that you don’t know that God is all you need, until God is all you have. And he is all I need, and through it all is working all things together for good for me. This meant that I came home to my father, not my earthly father, but my heavenly father, who gives me strength, hope, love, joy and peace as I wait for the fulfillment of his promise, that he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and hearts of the children to the father before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

Father, I thank you that your promise is true, that you truly do work all things together for good for those of us who love you called according to your purpose. Thank you Jesus that you came to seek and to save the lost. That was me, even after I got saved. You continue to seek me until I came to the place where my spirit cries out Abba, Papa, and I know deep in my heart that I am your son and dearly loved. Thank you in Jesus name amen

you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body 1 Cor 6:19,20

There’s a lot around of what Dietrich and Bonhoeffer used to call “cheap grace.” The idea, in some circles, is that because Christ has paid the price for all of our sin, then it really doesn’t matter what we do. In other words we can do what we like and it’s all covered by the blood. But the New Testament does not teach this, not at all! In the title of our post today, Paul tells us very clearly that we are not our own. What does he mean by this? Well he goes on to say that we are bought with a price, in fact we are bought with the blood of Jesus Christ through his sacrificial death on the cross. Paul goes on to say therefore glorify God in your body.

In Romans 12:1 he tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy, and acceptable to God. This is our reasonable service. In other words the only reasonable response to the tender mercies of God is absolute surrender. So the question we need to ask ourselves, is does my conduct glorify God?

There’s a story in C.S. Forrester’s Hornblower series that illustrates this well. At this point Hornblower was a sea captain tasked with the recovery of gold from a sunken galleon. Since the water was deep the task had required the help of a Philippian diver who, because they had dived for pearls, had learned to hold their breath for up to 5 minutes. But on board was a hot tempered surgeon, and he and Philippian diver had got into an argument and the surgeon had challenged the Philippian diver to a duel. Long story short, the surgeon had shot the Philippine diver, who was in danger of dying, and thus imperilling the whole operation.

Hornblower of course was furious, and he told the surgeon “If this man dies you will die too.” Several days later the surgeon knocks on Hornblower’s door and tells him that he needs to take the bullet from the diver if he had any chance at all of living. Hornblower repeated his threat, and trembling the surgeon asked to be released from it. “Sir”, he said “if you do not, then at the moment I am performing the surgery, my hand may tremble remembering your threat. So what you intend to make me do my best, could actually lead to my undoing.” Hornblower in his wisdom released the surgeon from his threat and of course everything turned out well.

So the question to ask is “would it be reasonable for the surgeon to have a lackadaisical attitude to performing his task?” Of course not, if nothing else out of gratitude he should give his best performance. But this is precisely what Paul is telling us to do.

Father, please let me never, never take for granted the incredible sacrifice of your Son on the cross. Father please forgive me for the times that I have given less than my all for You, and for Your Kingdom. Help me father to glorify you in my body. In Jesus name. Amen.

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him Hebrews 11:6

Elsewhere the write to the Hebrews tells us that God is not unjust to forget or overlook, our labour of love. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3, talks about the rewards in terms of building upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ. In particular, we build with gold, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, and he says if our building is wood or hay or stubble, then we will lose our reward, but we ourselves will be saved. Otherwise we will receive our reward.

My thought is that human beings need motivation. For some being good has a lot to do with fear of the consequences of not being good. I mean we do reap what we sow whether good or bad. But in this world of instant gratification, the delay of gratification is an act of faith. So whether our reward is in the here and now, or in the hereafter we are promised a reward for our labour of love. We may feel that that is unspiritual to feel this way, but this seems to be wrong.

For me, one of the greatest rewards that I look forward to, is hearing His commendation “well done good and faithful servant.” There are many times in life that I feel unappreciated, overlooked or taken for granted. My consolation in all of this, is knowing that He sees, and that He is not unjust, to forget or overlook, and on that day every wrong will be made right. He puts it this way “Every valley will be exalted and every mountain brought low.” He also tells me in psalm 37 that those aspects of my character and my works that can rightly be described as just will be revealed like the noonday sun. So I don’t need to fret, I don't need to feel slighted when I am, because I know that He knows, and I choose to rest in that.

Father, help me to continue to live what I have just written. It says again in your word that without faith it is impossible to please you, and Father, I choose to choose to please you this day keep me close Lord, in Jesus name Amen