Jesus’ Coming Draws Near
“…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3
The pages of the Bible ripple with promises of Jesus’ coming again. We are reminded the signs of the time are everywhere.
Candidly I believe every one of the prophecies foretelling His return have been fulfilled. There is not one unfulfilled. The stage is set. I don’t look forward to the undertaker. I long for the uppertaker.
I love a cloudy day. When someone says of a beautiful day there is not a cloud in the sky, I regret to hear it because Jesus is said to come on the clouds. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
I don’t believe in the immediate return, but I do believe in the immanent return, meaning it can be at any moment, but not essentially immediately.
Candidly, won’t that be a grand day? Hallelujah, yes, and amen, it will be.
BUT, what if He doesn’t come in our life time?
I know that in response to our faith He promises the forgiveness of our sins. However, there is no guarantee in that arrangement of a promise that He will return in our life time.
Don’t do as members of the New Testament church in Thessalonika did. They just stopped their normal activities and started looking for Him. Not a good idea.
Instead trim your wick. In the New Testament story groomsmen who at the wedding while waiting for the bridegroom, illustrative of Jesus’ return, trimmed their wicks, meaning they got ready for His coming. So, trim your wick, get ready for His return. How?
You do so by living so that if it were today He would find you faithfully exercising your responsibilities as a Christian to the fullness.
Most often Christians are heard to say they hope He will come during current hard times. They even speak of the hard times as assurance He is coming at any time. Don’t you know that when the Mongol hordes were sweeping across western Asia and eastern Europe slaughtering Christians many thought that was assurance of His immediate return.
In Ephesians 4: 1 – 6 believers are beseeched, given a gentle wooing in love to live for Jesus.
Jesus did not say, “Obey me and I will bless you.” He in effect said, “I have blessed you, now obey me.” This is not a human command, but divine compulsion.
Believers are urged to walk worthy of the Lord. Worthy translates “axios” meaning in a manner worthy of the Lord. It is an adverb of manners. It was a term used at the time balancing scales were used to determine a weight. It meant to bring up the other beam of the scale, or to be equivalent. Your calling of the Lord is on one side of the scale and your lifestyle the other. We are beseeched to live a balanced life for Jesus. We are therefore beseeched to walk in harmony with our calling. Our relationship with Jesus should motivate right living.
If looking for His appearance doesn’t prompt us to do so, nothing will.
Lift up your head, our redemption draws near.
Does Your Faith Need Stirring? 9/6/98
II Timothy 1: 6, 7
Page 1736 Come Alive Bible
Jesus Christ complimented His followers of every era by describing us as “salt” and “light.”
For many life has grown tasteless. For many life is being lived in spiritual darkness.
This has been described as the era of the “Age of the Sellout” in which everything is for sale. Honesty and integrity are traded off like chattel for money and power.
Whether it is the “Age of the Sellout,” or the “Age of the Fallout,” or the “Age of the Blowout” it is our age and a grand time to be salt and light.
Whatever it is it is a grand time to be what the world needs: spiritual salt and light. I pray for persons who are members of this church knowing your task to be to saturate, penetrate, and infiltrate society with the tasty additive of spiritual salt and illumine a spiritually dark society with the light of the gospel. If you are a member my prayers follow you every day as an encouragement to be all God has designed you to be.
Ours is a spiritually challenging society. However in a day even more difficult Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote a young minister named Timothy words relevant to us:
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:6, 7).
Pitch your mental tent over that text and camp out under it for life.
At the time of this writing Paul was in a Roman prison awaiting decapitation. The mad emperor Nero had set fire to a large section of Rome and blamed the Christians for it. Believers were being rounded up and executed. Word spread throughout the Roman Empire as to what was happening in Rome. The word reached Troaz where awaited the young apprentice minister Timothy. A shiver must have gone through him when he heard of what awaited his mentor, Paul, and other believers.
He needed the encouragement contained in our text. Today I need it. Self-confession would prompt each of us to acknowledge our need for the wonderful gifts listed. First a —-
I. CHARGE “Stir up the gifts…” (Vs. 6)
We don’t know what gifts Timothy had but we do well to consider the “gifts,” that is the ability our Lord has given us. Every believer has spiritual gifts.
Most of us have memories of a fire on the hearth in our home or of sitting around a campfire.
Nights around a fire are a storehouse of memories. Are you one of those who can’t resist poking a fire. At a campfire are you one of those who inevitably ends up with a stick in your hand poking the fire. Are you an artist with a poker with the ability to create various patters as the dancing patterns of the flames and embers vary.
The expression “stir up the gifts” translates the Greek word ANAZOPUREO. ZOPUREO refers to embers in which the fire has abated. The prefix ANA means “to kindle again the flames of the fire.”
There is a modern English translation of beauty: “Shake the ashes off the God-given fire that’s in you.”
There is fire in embers. Often they need stirring in order for the flame to blaze. Fires feed on oxygen. By stirring them we give them additional fuel and they flame up. Don’t be surprised or discouraged if the spiritual flame in your life has died down. Neither be content or complacent – stir up your gifts.
Has your fervor been chilled and your zeal chilled. Are you spiritually in the game or on the sidelines. Do you have gifts and abilities not being used for the glory of the Lord. Every criticism that can be levied against the church in America is attributed to Christians not using their gifts. Shake off the ashes. Rekindle the flame of faithfulness. Let the Lord use you.
Paul and Timothy were willing to be used even at the risk of life. Respond to the charge – STIR UP THE GIFT OF GOD WHICH IS IN YOU.
Jesus wants to be your Master. Life without a spiritual master is like an orchestra without a conductor, a team without a coach, an army without a general. Now noted are four gifts.
II. COURAGE “Not of fear,” that is of, “cowardliness or timidity”
It is not craven fear but courage that comes from continual consciousness of the abiding presence of Jesus Christ.
Courage is the result when fear meets faith.
The word translated “fear” refers to cowardliness or timidity. A careful reading of I Timothy reveals some of his basic character traits. He was young and inexperienced, he was sickly, and of a shy temperament. This is not the profile of a great leader. Yet, Timothy became a great leader. Natural limitation had superimposed on them supernatural capacity. Natural liabilities are overcome by spiritual gifts being used fully.
Abraham Lincoln lived during a trying and turbulent time in our nation’s history. On the table beside his death bed was his well worn Bible. The gilded edge was well worn from use. Indentions at one point marked what was a passage to which he often referred. It is good for us also: “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
Are you fearful of international terrorism. Of a spiraling unstable stock market, of the moral malaise in America, or a plethora of personal problems. Those fears didn’t come from the Lord. In light of that can you figure out their source.
When Anglo-Saxon cave dwellers communicated with stick figure drawings on cave walls the depiction noting fear was of a wolf with a strangle hold on the throat of a sheep. Inordinate fear exerts a choking influence on life.
Consider the spirit of those who might well have been dispirited as described in the Phillips Translation of II Corinthians 6: 10 & 4: 8,9: “We are penniless, and yet in reality we have everything worth having … We are handicapped on all sides but never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand alone; we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out!” WOW, what determination! What confidence! What courage! What determination!
There is a little sign you might consider making a homemade version of: D.I.M.T.T.
That stands for “Determination Is More Important Than Talent.
God did not give them a spirit of fear. Neither has He given you one. He’s given —-
III. CHARACTER “Power” or “A spirit to inspire strength”
Drawing from American history we conceive of George Washington as a man with a spirit to inspire strength. The reason he had it was it was a gift given him by God. That strength of character inspired a nation. The legend of the chopping down of the cherry tree lives. What if when asked if he had chopped down the cherry tree young George had responded:
“No, Dad.”
“Son, I think you are lying.”
“No, no, no, I assure I did NOT chop down the cherry tree.”
“Son, I saw you out there with the axe. Your punishment will be much worse if you lie to me. Now tell me the truth.”
“Dad, I answered your question truthfully. Still, I must take complete responsibility for all my actions. While my answer was legally accurate, I did not volunteer information. Indeed, Dad, I did cause the cherry tree to be lying on the ground. To do this was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgement and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible. I know my answer to you gave a false impression. I misled you, my own father. I deeply regret that. I can only tell you I was motivated by many factors.
First, by my desire to protect myself from the embarrassment of my own conduct. I was very concerned about protecting Mom from this shock. What I did, Dad, was use a saw to cause the cherry tree to fall. Only after the tree was already down did I go get the axe to chop off individual branches. So, I chopped off the branches, but sawed down the tree. Therefore, legally I told the truth.
I ask you to turn away from the spectacle of this fallen tree and to return our attention to a solid family relationship.”
That kind of character does not result from the gift of “power” to develop character.
In the mid 1930s the word character began to be devalued and personality emerged. Character traits, such as, courage, honesty, and loyalty were replaced by personality traits such as assertiveness, self- confidence, and introspectiveness.
Today sophisticated thinkers tell us good and evil are not actually categories but subjective and transient points of view that vary from person to person. Arm your mind by reading the right works. Youth, if given a choice of a book on which to write a report choose books like “Lord of the Rings.” It will help empower your mind.
This power is here depicted as power to —–
A. Be Saved (Vs. 9) “who has saved us.”
B. To Suffer (Vs. 8) “share with me in the suffering.”
“…if we suffer with Him we will also reign with Him” (II Timothy 2: 12).
Everyone, that is, everyone suffers. You may have been laboring under the misconception that you are the only one who suffers. If you have been thinking this is your distinction among humanity it isn’t. Believers and non-believers alike suffer. Being a Christian means you have the capacity to go beyond the breaking point and not break. This is inherent in the power given you by your Savior. With Him suffering takes on purpose. Use your pain for your gain.
If you know someone whose faith you admire you know someone who has suffered.
C. To Be Sanctified (Set aside for His use) (Vs. 9) “called us with a holy calling”
IV. COMPASSION “Love” (Vs. 7)
A. For His Word
B. For His Will
As a college student I memorized this verse by Henry van Dyke:
With eager heart and will of fire
I sought to win my great desire.
‘Peace shall be mine,’ I said, but life
Grew bitter in the endless strife.
My soul was weary, and my pride
Was wounded deep, To heaven I cried,
‘God give me peace, or I must die.’
The dumb stars glittered no reply.
Broken at last I bowed my head
Forgetting all myself I said:
‘What ever comes, Thy will be done.’
And in that moment peace was won.
Any experience that brings us to that sublime experience is worth the price of admission. At the moment of trust endurance that last is given.
C. For His Work
V. CONTROL “A Sound Mind” or “Self- discipline”
When Christ is in control we are under control.
He gives us the capacity of controlling ourselves in the face of PANIC or PASSION.
In matters of PANIC He can keep us from running away.
In matters of PASSION He can keep us from being swept away.
We must treat ourselves as a force needing controlling —-
-A collection of energy needing direction.
-A composite of emotions that must be managed.
-A combination of appetites that have to be curbed.
There is nothing wrong in our society or in the lives of individual citizens that can’t be corrected if Christians stir up these gifts within each of us.
Approaching is a time of decision. Will you in the moment of decision determine to stir up the gifts of love, power, and a sound mind?
On my birthday I was given an Iron Man watch. There is a setting on it “CHRONOS.” It is a Greek word for running time. It is used for clocking the length of time required for something.
There is another Greek word for time, KAIROS. It refers to a decisive time, a moment that requires an important decision. Outside the stadium at Olympia was a statue to the god KAIROS. It stressed that the athletes had to seize the moment, to act decisively before the moment of opportunity passed. KAIROS is linked with the idea of responsibility.
KARIOS, time, has come. Seize the moment, take advantage of this opportunity to act responsibly. Here and now determine to “Shake the ashes off the God-give fire that’s in you.”
Heart Attack
Deep in the Jordanian desert stands the largest of the numerous Crusader fortresses, Kerek. The walls of this imposing hilltop fortress provide a panoramic view of the surrounding area. The design of the fortification involved three concentric walls, each inner wall rising above the outer walls. If attackers breached the outer wall they were faced with a higher wall from which the defenders could look down on them.
Sultan Saladin laid siege to the fortress for two years without success. One day a dog was seen at a nearby spring outside the fortress. Later the same dog was observed on the rampart of the inner wall. Noticing this several times, the attackers decided to follow the dog. He went into a cave and up a tunnel which came out in the innermost parts of the fortress.
The wily Saladin posted warriors in the tunnel until dark and emerged in the innermost walls of the fortification. The surprise attack resulted in Salidin’s warriors quickly taking the fortress. They then held the heart of the fortress and soon conquered the fortress.
We all have our defenses against the fiery darts of our adversary the devil. Frontal attacks are most often defeated. It is the ones that surprisingly come against our core values, our spiritual hearts, that most easily defeat us. Guard your heart.
“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4: 23)
The word “heart” is the best biblical word to sum up the inner life of each person.
The Hebrew word behind our English word “keep” is the word natsar. This word is used sixty-two other times in the Hebrew Bible, but forty-two of those instances are found in the Psalms and in this book, Proverbs. It means to be diligent regarding what thoughts you allow to secretly be permitted in your mind.
“Solomon writes this: As in water, the face reflects the face, so the heart of man reflects the man. (Proverbs 27:19) So your heart is you; your inner you.
Jesus warned, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” (Mark 7: 20 – 23)
Discipline is a word often used today to refer to exercise, diet, and other phases of life. Discipline of our inner thought is essential. Diligently discipline your thoughts, guard your heart. The Lord will help you, but you must engage your mind and will in order to guard your heart. It means to be diligent regarding what thoughts you allow to secretly be permitted in your mind.
A Not So Merry Christmas
“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5: 4
Merry Christmas! Not for all.
The following is posted on behalf of those who have experienceD a loss. A death, divorce, job loss, a dream that dies, a failed hope, a frustrated ambition, a defeat of major proportions. All have a tendency to stun and shock us.
These are thieves that rob us of anything approximating being merry.
It is not a bah humbug loss of “merry.” It is seemingly being forcibly stripped of it. It is like a lovely balloon that has been deflated.
Perhaps your loss of “merry” is so great it may seemingly leave you with a “I can’t go on” or even taken out the back door your will to live.
The loss of “merry” may even cause a disappointment in God. God is always good. Things aren’t. Don’t confuse the two. If the loss of “merry” causes disappointment in God, the grief goblins have won. Don’t let it go that far.
The Greek word for mourning, pentheo, means a grief that consumes the whole person. Christ is a spiritual seismograph, sensing the needs of His subjects. He knew mourning was inescapable. His intent is to give it meaning and purpose. God takes no pleasure in our pain. He will take a part.
To mourn is natural. It is not optional. Our response is optional. Sorrow with a purging purpose is profitable. It is mourning with a meaning.
Mourning is sober judgment. It prompts people to weigh values. It reveals one’s true character. The blackest of velvet is used to display the rarest of diamonds. This speaks of those who have not realized and acknowledged their spiritual poverty. Sorrow in life is inevitable. What we sorrow over is what matters.
Mourning is a corrective of a condition. It is essential to recovery from an adverse condition. To mourn is natural. It is not optional. Our response is optional.
The word “comforted” comes from two parts: “com” meaning together with and “fort” meaning strength. Christ shares His strength and together with Him we become strong.
“Merry” is a variable. No emotion can be maintained indefinitely. That means your loss of “merry” will eventually be revived. “Merry” seems a distant memory. It has been dealt a stunning blow.
There have been times most of us have sung:
“Shackled by a heavy burden ‘Neath a load of guilt and shame
Then the hand of Jesus touched me And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, oh, He touched me And oh, the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened, and now I know He touched me, and made me whole
Since I’ve met this blessed Savior Since He’s cleansed and made me whole.
Oh, I will never cease to praise Him ….”
To regain emotional equilibrium start by praising God even for little things.
Sheep for His Name Sake 6/7/98
Psalm 23
Page 813 Come Alive Bible
Jesus Christ said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep,
and am known by My own” (John 10:14).
Bonding by humans and animals is a close tie. Those who have a pet dog, cat or some other animal can relate. Pet owners have been known to spend lavishly on medical expenses for a pet. Many have been known to weep and grieve when such a pet dies.
I heard of a child whose cat died. The parent in trying to console the child said, “Don’t cry. Fluffy has gone to be with God.” the child exclaimed, “What would God want with a dead cat?”
Those of us not familiar with an oriental shepherd and his sheep can’t imagine the interrelation between them. Against this backdrop Christ said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own…”
As our children were growing up and conversation turned to a person they wouldn’t ask, “Do you know him?” Instead they would ask, “Does he know you?”
If you have trusted Christ as Savior He knows you. You are known by God.
Knowing that I am from Georgia persons in other parts of the country sometimes ask, “Do you know President Jimmy Carter?” With increasing pride I am privileged to say “Yes.”
Does he know you?
We were prayer partners for some time. Just the other day I had a handwritten note from him with the greeting, “To Nelson, my old friend…” It evoked memories of many pleasantries shared.
If you were to receive correspondence from the Lord would it bear the greeting “My old friend?” Is yours a warm personal relation with the Good Shepherd? Christ said, “I know My own.”
There is a synthesis between sheep and the shepherd, a beautiful bonding. You are —-
I. A PROXY “HE LEADS ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS…”
Christ wants to guide, guard, and govern in your life for His name’s sake. Perhaps you are a person professing to be a Christian. The word means a Christ partisan, meaning a follower of the Christ. As such you are the best representative of Christ some persons will ever know. You are His proxy. Therefore, in defense of His reputation He wants to enable you to live the abundant life. As a result He offers to lead you.
A close identity exists between a shepherd and his sheep. He is their hero. He condescends to them and they respond to him. They bond as one.
Wordsworth wrote: “The swan upon St. Mary’s lake floats double; swan and shadow.”
The shepherd and sheep are as one; the sheep the mirror image of the shepherd.
This requires both a leader and a follower. He leads but you must follow.
As His proxy don’t disgrace Him.
He said, “I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.” Let’s look at that closely, “I have come that you might have life (comma) and that you might have it more abundantly.” He wants to enable us to live beyond the “comma.” Life beyond the comma — ENJOYMENT, NOT JUST EXISTENCE.
Beyond the comma life is vastly bigger, braver, and nobler once we become adherent followers of Christ.
RELATIONSHIP, NOT JUST A REFORMATION
Life beyond the comma, which Christ called “abundant life,” means wrestling with powers and principalities and mastering them through the power of Jesus Christ. It isn’t a tame colorless round of trivialities.
Abundant life means to be full of moral energy that throws off temptation like a healthy body throws off disease germs. Life beyond the comma is —
FELLOWSHIP, NOT JUST FRIENDSHIP
This PLUS living is living with another. That one is Christ.
Psychologists say human beings have three desires: the longing to be —
ACCEPTED, APPROVED, AND APPRECIATED.
We are created in the image of God, that is, His likeness. This means He likes to be —
ACCEPTED, APPROVED, AND APPRECIATED.
DEVOTION, NOT JUST A DUTY
Duty may produce diligence, but devotion produces dynamism.
Life beyond the comma, that is, abundant life, is life beyond the cross.
II. A PRESENCE “YOUR ROD AND YOUR STAFF THEY COMFORT ME” (VS. 4B)
A relationship with Christ is intended to produce people who are richly alive, alight with an inward fire which ignites real living.
A shepherds “rod” was a type of club used to defend sheep from marauders or predators. Comfort is found in knowing the Good Shepherd protects. Not only is comfort found in the rod but also the shepherds staff. The staff was used for controlling the sheep. Bible land sheep live on rough terrain. If one were to fall into a ravine the staff was used to rescue it. If it were a lamb the hook on the staff was put under the body to lift it. If a mature sheep under the neck.
In controlling, the staff was often used to discipline also. A occasional “whack” was needed. The psalm expresses comfort in being disciplined.
III. A PANACEA “YOU ANOINT MY HEAD WITH OIL”
Each day the good shepherd inspects each individual sheep. If there is a wound or an insect manifestation the shepherd uses a mixture of olive oil and sulphur to anoint the sheep. Both have medicinal qualities and the sulphur keeps away insects.
When we are wounded spiritually our Lord does for us the equivalent of anointing us, that is, healing us. He provides relief from the pests of life also.
IV. A PAYOFF “I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER”
There is a wonderful payoff awaiting obedient sheep. One thing insecure people want is a sense of permanence. In our transient society people seek permanence. It is offered by our Lord.
Throughout the Psalm the presence of the shepherd with his sheep is a repeated theme. Therefore we can say, “I will fear no evil.”
Jesus has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” He also said, “I am the door.”
He leads His own into His sheepfold. A sheepfold is a pen or a corral. Often the sheep are gathered therein for protection and shelter. Most don’t have a door to close the entrance. Instead the shepherd sleeps in the doorway. He becomes the door. Christ is such for us.
Jesus spoke of the bond between shepherd and sheep: “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10: 4,5).
Sheep of the Good Shepherd are EARMARKED (Vs. 3) and FOOT MARKED (Vs. 4). They won’t respond to any other voice or follow any other individual.
On occasion two or more shepherds will combine their flocks in a fold for a short time. When it is time to separate them the two shepherds go off a distance and each calls his sheep. Each has a specific call and the sheep know the sound. They respond only to that sound and each goes to its own shepherd.
Someday the Good Shepherd will call out all of His flock. Do you know His voice? If so are you obedient to it today?
Christ commented further: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10: 27, 28).
In English grammar a double negative is considered improper. In Greek it is used for emphasis. Jesus literally said, “They shall not never perish…” This speaks of the security of the believer, that is, once saved always saved.