Forewarned Is To Be Forearmed
“These things I have spoken to you so that you will not be led into sin. They will ban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering a service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. However, I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you. “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, grief has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment:regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:1-15)
Our unstable society has caused some to be apprehensive, even fearful of difficult times coming. Hopefully they aren’t, but if they do we should be spiritually and mentally ready. Therefore, consider Jesus’s conversation with His disciples as His life neared an end.
As they moved from Mt. Zion to Gethsemane, Christ warned His followers of pending problems in order to avoid them being offended. The word offended is “skandalon,” meaning to be given an occasion to stumble, (Vs. 1) and be ready to die if necessary. Literally, “Don’t be trapped” by circumstances. It is an encouragement not to be surprised by difficulty.
Sorrow was forthcoming for the apostles. (Vss. 1-6)
This principle causes some to stumble if it is not rightly understood. Jesus gave His followers a simple, clear forewarning of persecution. When Bible translator Tyndale was being persecuted for his efforts to put the Bible in the hands of people, he said, “I never expected anything else.” He employed the appeal to be ready for it.
Christ informed them so they would “not be offended,” that is, they would not stumble.
Today suffering is met with varying responses. Often persons become bitter and critical of God.
The wife of C.S. Lewis, Joy, died of cancer. In his book, “A Grief Observed,” he described one phase through which he went. It is not all together different from our own at various times: “Not that I am…in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not, ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but, ‘So this is what God is really like. Deceive yourself no longer.’”
Isaiah revealed Christ not to be an indifferent, remote God but an involved, caring, compassionate God: “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” (Isaiah 53: 3,4)
Christ does not just share our suffering, but He lovingly allows us to share His. In this light a believer can see being privileged to share in the suffering of the cross. So don’t complain. To add to this concept read I Peter 4:1, 12-13.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis wrote, “When Christ calls a man He bids him come and die. Receiving Christ as Lord means preparing for battle. It means doing what He tells you to do, when He tells you to, how He tells you to do it, where He tells you to do it, as He did.”
Don’t live captive by worry, but daily be blessed by the joy inherent in your salvation.
The Enabling Son of God
“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.” (John 15: 5)
Jesus used an intriguing object to illustrate our dependence on Him, and our utter inadequacy without Him. He always used teachable moments.
As they walked along there were branches of vines that had been pruned. Seizing the teachable moment, He used it to impress on His disciples and us the importance of being properly connected to Him.
Let us use the capacity of a tree to get some hint of how the sun enables the tree to do in response to it.
We are like a tree with limbs and roots outstretched like empty, needy hands. The tree doesn’t even have the self-energy to survive. It is dependent upon the sun for its energy. Once energized it works. The medium sized tree does the equivalent work of a man who does the following each day. If you were to carry 300 buckets of water, two at a time, up a ten foot flight of stairs, you would be doing what a tree does each day. Of itself, it can’t; but with the ability given by the empowering sun, it does. We can do nothing of ourselves; but with the power of the Son, we are enabled to work daily in the Kingdom.
The branch (believer) properly contacted to the vine (Jesus) responds obediently to Him. Further down in the text (John 15: 11) is found the result of obedience. It is JOY. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” This is creative joy such as an artist experiences when finishing a creative work of art or the joy a student experiences when answering correctly the last question on a test for which proper preparation has been made. It is the joy a mother experiences in giving birth. It is the joy of an athlete in the moment of victory.
There are two kinds of branches (believers).
PRODUCTIVE “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:8).
As the Father was glorified by the Son so He is further glorified by the works of the followers of His Son, Jesus Christ.
NON-PRODUCTIVE These are Christians not actively serving our Lord. A person can be a Christian not serving our Lord, but NOT a disciple of Him as Lord. “No, Lord,” is a contradiction of terms. If the answer is “No,” He isn’t Lord. If He is Lord, the answer is always “Yes, Lord.”
The key to a productive Christian life isn’t mystical, it is sheer OBEDIENCE because of LOVE.
Our love for Him must be like His love for His Father. Refresh your love for Jesus right now. Talk to Him about your obedient love that you might have joy.
Point of Order
Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6: 31 – 34)
JESUS CHRIST said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” Thus, He has given to us the table of contents for a contented, contributing life.
People who fail to order life after this insightful instruction crucify themselves daily between two thieves: the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow.
Observe the simple segments of this stellar statement:
PURSUIT – “Seek”
The verb “seek” implies being absorbed in the search for, a persevering effort to obtain. “Be constantly seeking…”
The intensity with which we must perpetually “seek” His will is found in a statement from Hebrews 12:1 & 2 “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus…”
“Looking” translates the word “ap-horan.” It reveals the single mindedness of the search. “Ap” means “from, away from.” “Horan” means “to look.” Thus, we are to consciously look always from those worldly things that might attract us and deliberately focus our undivided attention of Christ.
PRIORITY – “First”
Apart from only a few, most persons you know likely seek the kingdom or at some time or other intend to seek it. He who knew the heart, our beloved Lord, knew it necessary to establish a point of order. He knew there had to be a FIRST.
The reason for so much discontent and unhappiness is that His intended order is not kept. Satan knows he can’t kill our desire for the kingdom so he seeks to misdirect it.
POSITION – “Kingdom”
The kingdom is a gift. However, out of gratitude for the gift we must serve the King.
POSSESSION – “Rightness”
Scripture notes, “There are none righteousness, no not one.” (Romans 3: 10) It is as a result of an obedient faith commitment to Jesus that His righteousness is credited to our account. As a result we will stand before judgment in heaven as righteous as Jesus, because His righteousness will be credited to our account.
“…not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Philippians 3: 9)
That should inspire a faith walk . . . today and every day.
Discipline
In giving attention to discipline, personal and national, consider these points.
The words disciple and discipline come from the same root word. Both mean to teach or train. Jesus was disciplining His disciples, He was teaching them. The purpose of God’s discipline, whether personal or national, is to train.
Discipline, or in this case “spiritual discipline,” is a training activity that helps to shape and mold character over an extended period of time.
If you know some self-disciplined adults you know some whose parents disciplined them in their youth. They were well taught, discipled.
Before going further consider these verses and observe aspects of discipline.
“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Heb 12:5-8)
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12: 11)
A very good friend shared this quote with me regarding God. “No one undoes what He has ordained. When He permits evil we can trust that He has planned to use it for His children’s good and His glory.”
The Lord has put the cookies on the lower shelf in this simple analogy.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6: 7-9)
To expand it further: You reap what you sow, you reap later than you sow, you reap more than you sow. It is an inexorable principle, it is going to happen.
God’s appeal to us personally, and to America, is expressed in this verse. “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3: 19)
Before being critical of America’s need to repent, be certain there is nothing of which you should repent personally. Aspire to have a cleansed pure life.
If Christ Is Not Raised… We’re in Big Trouble! 4/11/99
I Corinthians 15:12-14
Jesus Christ’s resurrection is foundational to Christianity. It is the distinguishing feature that defines it from all other faiths on earth.
Those who knew and walked with our Lord had failed to understand His references to His resurrection when He walked with them. Before we fault them remember such a concept was foreign to human experience. The idea was alien to all reality.
Mary Magdalene was the first follower to see the open tomb. She interpreted it as a final insult and injury. To her it meant not had they crucified Christ, but now someone had stolen His body. She sprinted back to tell the disciples. From what was she running? Was it fear of further failure by the crucified Christ? The first persons she encountered were Peter and John. Her report was of a stolen corpse. She had no concept of a resurrection.
Peter and John ran to the empty tomb. Toward what were they running? Did evidence of a dead friend being further disgraced await? Their disbelief was confronted with the angels message: “Why seek you the living among the dead, He is not here, He is risen as He said.”
RADICAL! A dead man lives … resurrected! REVOLUTIONARY!
Such had never happened and if a thing hasn’t happened we normally think it can’t happen. For a thing to be real we feel it must be in our experience. That is ridiculous. However, for that reason some of our contemporaries thought men didn’t really go to the moon. It never having happened it was assumed it didn’t happen. It did!
No person having been resurrected it was not even imagined it could happen. It did!
Could all the heavenly bodies in the universe speak they would declare this planet has one feature unique in all creation. It would not be our atmosphere, or our hydrological system. The distinctive feature of planet earth is an empty grave in Judea.
Facts related to the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ were so abundant tens of thousands believed at once. To them it was the defining feature of His life. However, what many refused to believe was that all who believe in Him will someday also be resurrected. The idea of resurrection was not a common one.
I. RETROSPECTIVE REALITY
Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection was a reality in conflict with normalcy. Not only was resurrection unheard of it was considered undesirable by many. For this reason Paul wrote I Corinthians 15.
Paul had previously preached of the resurrection of the dead in Corinth. They reacted with ridicule. Acts 17:32 “when they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him…” They did not believe this new truth. Why? Because they did not want to believe.
Greek culture of the period was dualistic. They believed in eternal forces of good and evil. To them the spiritual was the good side. The material was the bad side.
They believed the human spirit would go to heaven; but not the body. In their thinking they separated their body from their spirit. They believed that what they did with their body was not related to their spirit. Two schools of thought regarding the body developed:
HEDONISTIC – indulgence in sensual desires. Our current society has become a hedonistic society. “What’s in it for me” is the prevailing philosophy. Feeling good has become an end in itself. Feel-good Christianity is the churches way of identifying with the world. Feeling good is good but it is a by- product of a consistent Christian lifestyle, not an end in itself.
In Celicia there is a statue of a man snapping his fingers with the inscription: “Eat, drink, and play for all the rest is not worth this.” Though an ancient statue it might well replace our Statue of Liberty as a statue of liberality.
Because of the subtle but strong appeal of hedonism commitment is needed. Discipline your schedule, select friends carefully, and avoid improper influences. A tiger that lurks in the shadows and sun of the jungle has alternate stripes to conceal its presence. A polar bear is snow white to blend with his environment. A flounder takes on the color of the mud in which it lives. We tend to adapt to our environment also.
Sir Thomas Lawrence, artist and president of the Royal Academy of Arts advised a promising young artist to get all tasteless and crude Flemish art out of his studio lest his eyes become accustomed to it and his work be influenced by it. We too need to get out of the studio of our lives those things which if we become accustomed to them we will adjust to their standards.
ASCETIC – denying the body normal comforts. New groups emerge regularly professing virtue in self- denial. A current one now attracting adherents is known as “the Brethren.” Their same philosophy and tactics a few years ago was known as “the Way,” before them it was “the Children of God.” The name keeps changing the beliefs and methods remain the same.
Both hedonists and ascetics were happy to think of death as finally freeing them from the body.
We are free from the body but shall one day be resurrected in a perfect body.
A dad was walking along the beach with his little child when they happened upon a dead sea gull. The child asked, “What happened to him?” The dad said, “He died and went up to heaven.” The puzzled child inquired, “Why did God throw him back down here?”
News of a resurrected body to people who had such beliefs wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They resented it.
I Cor. 15: 23, 25 speaks of the phases of the resurrection.
A. Resurrection of Believers (Three phases).
1. Christ’s resurrection described in Matthew 27: 51, 53. This is perhaps one of the most unknown aspects of events associated with the resurrection of Christ.
“and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27: 52, 53).
2. The second part will take place “at the time of His coming.” This, called the rapture of the church, is described in I Cor. 15: 51, 52. I Thessalonians also speaks of this.
3. The third part will occur after Christ’s 1000 year reign on earth called the millennium. This is when Christ “will hand over the kingdom of God the Father.” I Cor. 15:24.
B. Resurrection of Unbelievers
These three speak of a “resurrection of life.” John 5: 29 speaks of a “resurrection of judgement.”
II. REFLECTIVE REASONING I COR. 1: 14-19
Summarily the Scripture notes what life without the resurrection would be like.
Paul, who as the representative of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the era, put together the most comprehensive file on the resurrection conceivable. Knowing it to be a reality he nevertheless lists what it would be like if it were not true.
I Corinthians 15: 14 – 19:
Our preaching is in vain. It is empty.
We are false witnesses, liars.
Our faith is futile —- groundless, with basis.
We are still in our sins.
Our deceased loved ones have perished; dead and gone.
We have no hope.
We are of all people most pitiable; unhappy beyond words.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was radical. It resulted and results in dramatic transitions in lives.
Today, unlike believers of that day, people want to keep the shell of Christianity and discard the heart and soul. A faith is sought that makes us feel good, deal better with the stresses of life, and assure financial prosperity. Unfortunately many seem to think Christianity is merely an additive to life like herbal tea in the morning, or air-bags on a car, or anti-oxidants and beta carotene to ones diet, or a higher speed modem for your computer.
Feel-good faith doesn’t inspire radical change, the resurrection does.
III. PROSPECTIVE RESULTS
Scripture doesn’t promise that the Christian faith will make us better adjusted or sanitized or spiritualized. He says we shall be changed. The resurrection is world shaking reality. It demands a look at life that is completely different.
The results are noted in I Corinthians 15: 58
A. Consistent. Be ye steadfast = “from now unto death be and remain steadfast.”
Paul, the prototype of a skeptic set out to discredit reports of the resurrection, became its chief exponent, and was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write most of the New Testament.
Because of the resurrected Christ hope is alive. Hope has sustained many in hopeless conditions.
In 1838 and 1839 Native Americans were moved from this area. The event not unlike what is happening in Kosovo today was brutal, the people hopeless. The movement from these beautiful mountains to land unwanted by the white man is known as “The Trail of Tears.” We have lost our sense of history regarding this event. The Cherokee had lived, hunted, fished, and worshiped according to “The Way.”
John Ross was among those leading the way from these mountains. The red men walked with soldiers flanking them on either side and the rear. Native Americans, male and female, were spoken of in that day simply as “the red man.” The “red man” walked with his eyes up and his gaze straight ahead. He looked to neither side of the trail along which mockers sneered and laughed. The “red man” did not laugh. He kept his eyes straight ahead.
Empty wagons followed. The “red man” had too much dignity and pride to ride in the “white man’s” wagons. With dignity he walked.
Along the long trail hunger and disease began to weaken some of the tribe. Some were lame, sickly, old, and others with child. For a while the soldiers let them bury their dead every day. Soon it was felt this was too time consuming so they allowed burial only every third day. When a child died its mother carried it till time of burial. When a wife died the husband carried her for up to three days before burial.
The people who stood along the trail and the soldiers stopped laughing. Even they began to cry. The “red man” never cried. He never rode in the white man’s wagons. He kept his head up and his eyes straight ahead.
You can take away a person’s land but not his hope.
Secular historians dare not tell this part of the story. By the time the trail ended in Oklahoma every soldier in the escort had been converted to faith in Christ. The “red man’s” faith in Christ was lived out. Hope had kept it alive. The resurrected Christ had sustained them. Their example was the witness that won the soldiers. Hope had inspired faith. It still does.
B. Conscientious. Unmovable = fixed, settled, firm, solid. A reference to inner faith and conviction.
One of the most distinguishing proofs of the resurrection is the change in lives. Peter, who because of his fear of what might happen to him, denied Jesus and swore he never knew him. Forty days later he is seen and heard fearlessly standing on the steps leading to the temple preaching the resurrection. That single day 3,000 believed and were baptized.
The resurrection is the only explanation for the emergence of the early church.
Before the close of the first century over 100,000 believers were in and around Jerusalem.
Polycarp: “Eight and six years have I served Him…”
C. Constant. Always abounding = not shifting from your position. Always = all ages, all conditions, all extents.
Don’t be an exuberant believer in high school and a skeptic in college. Don’t be an active church member when your children are growing up and a hard to find empty nester using the Lord’s Day as your play day.
D. Compensating. Abound in His work because it isn’t empty. This is a negative way of expressing the positive truth that it is “wonderfully productive.”
Labor = exertion that is hard and tired. Strenuous efforts in abounding work need something sufficient to stimulate and sustain them. An awareness of “The Victory” does this.
All who believe and die in Christ shall experience a resurrection and Christ’s resurrection is proof of it.
I Corinthians 15: 20 speaks of the first fruits of those who have died. In ancient Israel at the time of harvest some grain naturally ripened before all other. Some of this early maturing grain was cut and bundled. A procession to the temple involved those who had harvested early grain marching through the streets on their way to the temple waving the grain and singing. It was to be an offering of gratitude and an expression of confidence there was more to follow. This was called “the first fruit.” It evidenced gratitude and confidence there was more to follow.
The resurrected Christ was the “first fruits” of the resurrection. There is much more to come.
John alerts us to two ultimate resurrections. Every deceased person will be in one or the other.
There will come a day of announcement: “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).
The great divide follows: They shall obey Christ’s voice … “and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:29).
In which group will you be?