1 Coríntios 15
Marvin Vincent · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 15:9
Vincent summarizes "church" in his notes on Mt 16:18... Church (ekklesia), ek, out, kaleo, to call or summon. This (Mt 16:18) is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, Acts 19:39. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (1Ki 8:65), or for the community of Israel collectively, regarded as a congregation (Ge 28:3), where assembly is given for multitude in margin. In New Testament, of the congregation of Israel (Acts 7:38); but for this there is more commonly employed sunagoge, of which synagogue is a transcription; sun, together, ago, to bring (Acts 13:43). In Christ’s words to Peter the word ekklesia acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ekklesia, without being confounded with the sunagoge, the Jewish community. See Acts 5:11; 8:1; 12:1; 14:23, 27, etc. Nevertheless sunagoge is applied to a Christian assembly in James 2:2, while episunagoge (gathering or assembling together) is found in 2Th 2:1; He 10:25. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ekklesia implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Ro 16:5); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc. A Few Devotionals on "Church" Paul's Estimate of Himself James Smith on Paul's estimate of himself (James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit") - "I am nothing!" 2 Corinthians 12:11 - This was Paul's estimate of himself: "less than the least of all saints," and "the chief of sinners." The more we know of ourselves and of Jesus— the more shall we be humbled in the dust before Him; and the lower we lie before Him, and the happier and holier we shall be. Sinful MAN will, MUST be something— this is both his pride and his misery. The Christian is willing to be nothing— that Christ may be all in all. If we daily felt that we are nothing—how many mortifications we would be spared; what admiring views of the grace of God would fill and sanctify our souls! Apart from Christ—we are less than nothing; but in Christ—we are something! We are empty—but He fills us! We are naked—but He clothes us! We are helpless—but He strengthens us! We are lost—but He finds us! We are ruined—but He saves us! We are poor—but He supplies us! All that we are—is by Christ! All that we have—is from Christ! All that all we shall be—is through Christ! Christian, you are nothing! Therefore beware of thinking too highly of yourself; or imagining that you deserve more than you receive—either from God or men. Humble souls are soon satisfied. O could I lose myself in Thee, Your depth of mercy prove, O vast unfathomable sea Of unexhausted love! I loathe myself when God I see, Content if Christ exalted be! Have you lost the amazement over the fact that God has forgiven you? Tozer writes... For I am the least of the apostles… But by the grace of God I am what I am.… 1 Corinthians 15:9, 10 Every humble and devoted believer in Jesus Christ must have his own periods of wonder and amazement at this mystery of godliness—the willingness of the Son of Man to take our place in judgment so that the people of God could be a cleansed and spiritual people! If the amazement has all gone out of it, something is wrong, and you need to have the stony ground broken up again! The Apostle Paul, one of the holiest men who ever lived, was not ashamed of his times of remembrance and wonder over the grace and kindness of God. He knew that God did not hold his old sins against him forever! Knowing the old account was all settled, Paul’s happy heart assured him again and again that all was well. He could only shake his head in amazement and confess: “I am unworthy to be called, but by His grace, I am a new creation in Jesus Christ!” I make this point about the faith and assurance and rejoicing of Paul in order to say that if that humble sense of perpetual penance ever leaves our justified being, we are on the way to backsliding! (Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B.. Renewed day by day : A daily devotional) Responsibility - When God confronted Adam for eating from the forbidden tree, Adam blamed Eve (Gen. 3:12). Ever since then, people have tried to avoid taking responsibility for their actions by shifting the blame to others or to circumstances beyond their control. Today the art of blaming others has reached new levels. In a television interview a high-ranking government official said that pro-life advocates are ultimately responsible for the 1.6 million abortions that occur annually in the United States. He argued that if those who oppose abortion would simply volunteer to take the babies into their homes, mothers wouldn’t have to abort them. If you follow this line of reasoning, the woman who chooses to have an abortion because a baby would inconvenience her life is not responsible for the death of her child. The unwritten rule seems to be: “Never blame offenders for their wrongs. Those responsible are the people who want to punish them for their crimes.” How contrary to the Scriptures, which teach that God holds each of us accountable for what we do! The apostle Paul showed us how we should respond. He admitted the awfulness of his sin, and he recognized how gracious God had been to him (1 Cor. 15:9-10). --Herbert Vander Lugt Thank You, Lord, for giving us a mind and the ability to choose between right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Help us to accept responsibility and seek Your forgiveness when we make the wrong choices. If you make an excuse for sin, your sin will not be excused. A W Tozer... Man’s very human habit of trusting in himself is generally the last great obstacle blocking his pathway to victory in Christian experience. Even the Apostle Paul, writing in his New Testament letters, confessed that his confidence in God was in completely opposite ratio to his confidence in himself. Paul made it very plain that it was only after giving up the last inclination to trust in himself that he became immersed in the sufficiency of Christ. We can learn much from the experiences of Paul and the humility of his testimony, “For I know that in me … dwelleth no good thing” (Ro 7:18a). He had discovered that to be fully surrendered to God and the will of God meant that first he must come to an entire and radical distrust of himself. After he became willing to look within his own being, Paul had no further confidence in himself and couldn’t say enough against himself. But when he went forth before men in the compulsion of ministry for Christ, he seemed to stand sure with a great cosmic confidence because he had met God and could honestly declare that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2Co 4:7). Paul was being continually thrown into spiritual combat as he moved forward in his declaration of Jesus as Christ and Lord. He knew the blessing and the power of operating from a position of strength—the fact that he held no illusions about himself and depended completely upon the Spirit of God. “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10a), he said. “I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle” (1 Corinthians 15:9a), he wrote. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15), he acknowledged. This all adds up to a startling statement of truth held not only by Paul but by all of the great saints who have done exploits for God. They would all remind us that those who insist on trusting human self will never obtain the desired victory in spiritual combat, for they will presume vainly in their own strength! To become effective men of God, then, we must know and acknowledge that every grace and every virtue proceeds from God alone, and that not even a good thought can come from us except it be of Him. (Tozer, A. W. I talk back to the devil: Straightforward appeals for Christlike living) Gracegems on the path that leads us to learn of our own nothingness... And what a lesson is this to acquire! For a child of God, not to confess merely- for nothing is easier than confession- but to feel his nothingness; to be conscious that he is the "least of all saints;" to be willing to be thought so; to feel no repining at being over-looked- cast in the shade yes, trampled under foot- O what an attainment is this! And yet, how few reach it! how few aspire after it! It is to be learned only in the path of sanctified affliction. Other discipline may mortify, but not humble the pride of the heart- it may wound, but not crucify it. Affliction sanctified by the Spirit of God lays the soul in the dust; gives it low thoughts of itself. Gifts, attainments, successful labors, the applause of men, all conspire the ruin of a child of God; and, but for the prompt, and often severe, discipline of an ever-watchful, ever-faithful God, would accomplish their end. But the affliction comes- the needed cross- the required medicine- and in this way are brought out "the peaceable fruits of righteousness"- the most beautiful and precious of which is, a humble, lowly view of self. (The Tried Believer Comforted) J C Philpot on Paul's highest attainment..."Though I am nothing." 2 Corinthians 12:11 This was Paul's highest attainment in the knowledge of self. To be a daily pauper living on alms is humbling to proud nature, which is always seeking to be something, and to do something. If this self-nothingness was wrought in us, we would be spared much pain, in wounded pride. People are building up religion all over the country, but there is not one of a thousand who has yet learned the first lesson—to be nothing. Of all this noisy crowd, how few lie at Jesus' feet, helpless and hopeless, and find help and hope in Him! If you can venture to be nothing, it will save you a world of anxiety and trouble! But proud, vain, conceited flesh wants to be something—to preach well, to make a name for one's self, and be admired as a preacher. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." "[I am] less than the least of all the saints." (RICHES OF PHILPOT) Puritan Thomas Brooks in answer to the question "what is that sorrow or mourning for sin, which is a part of true repentance?" has several points one of which relates to Paul's declaration in 1Cor 15:9... Godly sorrow is a LASTING sorrow, it is a durable sorrow. As long as a Christian continues sinning, he cannot but continue mourning. David's sins were always before him, Psalm 51:3, though his Absalom nor his Bathsheba were not ever before him. Godly sorrow will every day follow sin hard at heels. Look! as a wicked man, in respect of his desire and will to sin—would sin forever, if he should live forever; so I may say, if a godly man should live forever—he would sorrow forever. After Paul had been converted many years, some think fourteen, you shall find him a-mourning and lamenting over his sins, Romans 7. An sincere child will never cease mourning, until he ceases from offending an indulgent father. Though sin and godly sorrow were never born together—yet while a believer lives in this world, they must live together. And indeed holy joy and godly sorrow are in no way inconsistent, Psalm 2:11; yes, a godly man's eyes are always fullest of tears, when his heart is fullest of holy joy, etc. A man may go joying and mourning to his grave, yes, to heaven, at the same time. But now the sorrow, the grief of wicked men for sin, it is like a morning cloud, or the early dew, or the crackling of thorns under a pot, or a runner who quickly passes by, or a dream which soon vanishes, or like a tale which is told, etc., their sorrowful hearts and mournful eyes soon dry up together, as you may see in Esau, Ahab, Pharaoh, and Judas. But the streams of godly sorrow will last and run as long as sin hangs upon us, and dwells in us: 1Co 15:9, "I am the least of the apostles, that am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." Psalm 25:7, "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions." David prays to the Lord, not only to forgive—but also to forget, both the sins of his youth and the sins of his age. David remembered all his faults, both of former and of later times. David was well in years when he defiled himself with Bathsheba; and this he remembers and mourns over, Psalm 51. And it is very observable, that God charged his people to remember old sins: Dt. 9:7, "Remember, and forget not, how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness." Repentance is a grace, and must have its daily operation as well as other graces. witness the very covenant of grace itself: Ezek. 16:62, 63, "I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the Lord: that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more because of your shame, when I am pacified towards you for all that you have done." Certainly a true penitent can no more satisfy himself with one act of repentance, than he can satisfy himself with one act of faith, or with one act of hope, or with one act of love, or with one act of humility, or with one act of patience, or with one act of self-denial. Godly sorrow is a gospel grace which will live and last as well and as long as other graces; it is a spring which in this life can never be drawn dry. (Evangelical Repentance by Thomas Brooks, 1669) Going for Gold: A Sermon About the Olympics Rob Morgan Billions of people around the world have been absorbed for the last two weeks in the Games of the 28th Olympiad, which end tonight in Athens, Greece. The Apostle Paul was familiar with the Olympics, for we know that he spent a good deal of time in southern Greece as he ministered in the city of Corinth which is not far from the fabled city of Delphi, Greece, the home of the original Olympics. My wife and I once visited Delphi, and I had the joy of racing across the original stadium where the races were held. I came in second. It was a two-man race, and the other fellow got the crown of leaves put on his head. I just counted it a privilege that I got to run the course of the original race that made a portion of the ancient original Olympics. I was never much of an athlete. I was always picked last on school teams, and whatever team I was on inevitably lost, and for some reason I was almost always blamed. My one claim to fame in athletics was when I was manager of the high school football team. I took the trash out to burn it on afternoon and accidentally set the football field on fire. There never was a hotter game than we had that Friday night. The Apostle Paul must have had some interest in athletics, because he frequently used the games as illustrations for his messages. He was familiar, not only with the Olympics of his day, but with all the other ancient games. Every major city had its sports coliseum, its hippodrome for horse racing, and its local athletes and teams. And just like a good preacher today, the apostle Paul sometimes used sports allusions to illustrate his sermons and writings. For example: · Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified—1 Corinthians 9:24-27. · For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places—Ephesians 6:12 · And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules—2 Timothy 2:5 · I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing—2 Timothy 4:7-8. We therefore have biblical warrant for drawing spiritual lessons from the world of athletics, and perhaps even from the Olympic Games themselves. So today I’d like to do something quite different. We’ve spent the last eight weeks in an intense study of the most difficult book of the Bible—Leviticus. Today I think we need a little mental break from a steady diet of deep theology and systematic study, so I’d like to share with you some lessons we can learn from stories we read from the history of the modern Olympic Games. Earlier this year, I was asked to do some research into this subject for an article I was writing for a magazine. I happened to be in Roan Mountain at the time, so I spent a good deal of the week in the Elizabethton Public Library, in the sports section. And there I read the stores of five Olympians and from them we can glean some great truths. Eric Liddell: Meet with the Coach Each Morning It almost goes without saying that when we think of the modern Olympics and Christians in the same sentence, we think of Eric Liddell, the Flying Scotsman. Eric was born in 1902 in China where his parents were missionaries for the London Mission Society. He attended Edinburgh University where he was hailed as one of their best track and field runners ever. He ran the 100 yards and the 220 yards for the university. Liddell represented England in the 1924 Paris Olympics. When he learned the heats were to be run on Sunday, he declared that he could not run on Sundays as it would violate his convictions regarding the Sabbath. He switched to the 400 meter competition where he won a gold medal. His story has been made famous in the movie Chariots of Fire. What many people don’t know is that after the Olympics, he followed in his parents’ footsteps as a missionary to China. It was there during World War II that he was interned in the Weishien Concentration Camp where he died while serving Christ Jesus. Sally Magnusson, in her biography of Liddell, explained the secret of his radiant life: “Every morning about 6 a.m., with curtains tightly drawn to keep in the shining of our peanut-oil lamp… he used to climb out of his top bunk, past the sleeping forms of his dormitory mates. Then, at the small Chinese table, (he would sit) with the light just enough to illumine (his) Bibles and notebooks. Silently (he) read, prayed, and thought about the day’s duties, noted what should be done. Eric was a man of prayer...” That was his great secret. He knew how to devote his mornings to meeting with his divine Coach. There are many lessons that can be drawn from Eric Liddell’s life, but chief among them is this: Champions for God often devote their morning hours to spending time with Him. As Eric Liddell knew, when we begin the morning with God, we can enjoy His presence all day long. As Henry Ward Beecher said, “The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.” James Connolly: Persevere Through Difficulties Here’s another story, and one that was totally unfamiliar to me, although I think it’s well known by anyone who studies the history of the modern Olympics. The very first Olympic champion in the history of the modern games is an American named James Connolly, the first person to win a gold medal after the resumption of the games in 1896. James Connolly, who was born in south Boston, dreamed of attending Harvard University, but he couldn’t afford it. He worked multiple jobs for many years to save enough for tuition; and at age 27, he finally enrolled. The year was 1896, and soon rumors spread that the ancient Olympics would be reborn in Athens. At Princeton University, runner Robert Garrett had already decided to go, taking three teammates with him. Princeton gave them six weeks off for the trip. Back at Harvard, Arthur Blake, another runner, was granted permission to attend the Olympics. But when James asked for the same privilege, the school refused. ‘You’re only an undergraduate,” said the dean. “If you leave now, you will have to quit—and you may not be allowed back in.” “I’m a good enough jumper to beat anybody in the world,” James replied. “I’m going to Athens to prove it. And if that means quitting Harvard, then I quit right now.” Storming from the school, James withdrew his college funds and, shortly afterward, left for Europe aboard a German steamer. The other athletes were on board, too, but they had lots of funding and could travel first class. James found himself far below deck in a cramped, musty, dank cabin with little food. He suffered terribly from seasickness. James was no sooner off the boat in Naples then someone bumped into him on the crowded streets; and when he later reached for his billfold, it was gone. He’d been robbed of every cent by a pickpocket. He arrived in Athens exhausted, penniless, frazzled, and traveling at the mercy of wealthier teammates. He was weak and out of shape. But at least he had two weeks to recover from the trip. That’s when he suffered his next shock. The Greeks used a different calendar than the Americans, and Olympic competition was set to begin the very next day! When morning came, James dragged himself out of bed for the opening ceremonies and stood for hours in the blazing sun awaiting the arrival of the King of Greece. When the games began, James’ event, the triple jump, was first on the schedule. “I don’t know if I can manage even one jump,” James said. “I’m exhausted.” But his teammate pulled him aside. “I’ve seen you make it this far despite all the problems you’ve had getting here,” said his friend. “And I’ve seen you jump. There’s no one here who can beat you. Just remember. You’re representing Americans now.” As the competition proceeded, James watched his opponents. The French jumper had the best marks, a triple jump of 41 feet, 8 inches. Walking to the edge of the runway, James’ threw his cap a yard beyond his opponent’s distance. A rush of adrenaline came, along with a fresh surge of confidence. Racing down the runway, James leaped into the air and to everyone’s amazement, his triple jump measured nearly 45 feet—beyond even where he had thrown his cap. Leaping to their feet, the thousands of spectators began roaring, “Nike! Nike!” “What does that mean?” asked James. The judge said, “That means victory.” That afternoon, James Connolly stood on the victor’s stand and was awarded the silver medal, at that time signifying first place. Not only did he become America’s first Olympic hero, he was the first Olympic champion of modern times. As I read that story, I was reminded that we must all persevere through difficulties if we’re going to win the crown. The Bible says that we must run with perseverance the race that is set before us. We mustn’t give up. I recently listened to tape recordings of the speeches Franklin Roosevelt gave to America during World War II, including his famous fireside chats. In one of those speeches, he said something like this: “These are difficult days, but they are not dark ones.” The Christian has many difficult days, but they aren’t dark ones. We must keep on going until the prize is one. Jesse Owens: Nurture the Right Friends Another famous Olympian was Jesse Owns, who humiliated Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hitler disliked black athletes and felt they were inferior to Arians. Hitler was hoping that the 1936 Olympics would prove him right. Jesse Owens was an African-American track star whose main event was the Long Jump. But Owens was having trouble with that event in Berlin. In the qualifying rounds, he missed two times. The first time, he thought he was just taking a practice jump, but the official counted it as one of his three actual attempts to qualify. On his second attempt, he misjudged the takeoff spot and fouled again. One more miss, and he would be eliminated from competition. His main competitor was a German named Lutz Long, the only jumper there with a reasonable shot at beating Owens. It was just then that Lutz Long walked over to Jesse Owens and chatted with him for a few moments. “Something must be bothering you,” Long said. “You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed. Owens explained that he hadn’t realized that his first jump counted as a qualifying attempt. That had so rattled him that he overcompensating in his second jump. Long said, “Since the distance you need to qualify isn’t that difficult, make a mark about a foot before you reach the foul line. Use that as your jump-off point. That way you won’t foul.” Jesse did just that. He used his foot to dig a mark in the grass next about a foot short of the foul line, and he used that as his jump-off spot. He qualified that time with a couple of feet to spare. Later that afternoon, Jesse Owens and Lutz Long went head-to-head in competition. It was nip-and-tuck to the end, but when Jesse Owens won the gold metal, Hitler reportedly scowled, but Lutz Long ran over and threw his arms around him in congratulations. Years later, Jesse Owens talked about that moment, and he said, “You could melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t match the 24-carot friendship I felt for Lutz Long at that moment.” The two men became good friends and stayed in touch, even during World War II when the two nations were locked in a terrible war with each other. Lutz was a lieutenant in the German Army, but he wrote to Owens and said, “I hope we can always remain best of friends despite the differences between our countries.” It was the last communication the two of the ever shared, for just a few days later, Lutz was killed in battle. But the story doesn’t end there. Years later, Owens received a letter from Lutz Long’s son, who was then 22-years old and getting married. The letter said, “Even though my father can’t be here to be my best man, I know who he would want in his place. He would want someone that he and his entire family admired and respected. He would want you to take his place. And I do, too.” And Jesse Owens flew to Germany to be the best man at the wedding of the son of his former arch competitor and rival. What does that tell us? It tells us that friends are important, and that we must carefully guard and nourish our friendships. The Bible says that love never fails. Lawrence Lemieux: Rescue the Perishing One of the most incredible stories coming from the Olympics occurred during the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea. There was a young competitor there whose whole life had been in pursuit of an Olympic medal. The 1988 games represented his best chance. He was a Canadian named Lawrence Lemieux, and his event was in sailing. Off the coast of Korea, he was racing for the Gold. The sea was stormy and rough, but Lemieux was in second place with an excellent shot at first. Suddenly his attention was drawn aside by an overturned boat, and he saw a sailor draped over the hull, desperately trying to hold on. Another sailor was bobbing in the water. The tides and winds were pushing both men further out to sea. They were Olympians, too, and were competing in another event. The man who was draped over the overturned hull of the boat had cut his hand in the accident and was rapidly losing strength. The crewman in the water was drifting away from the boat and going down. Lemieux had a heart-rending decision to make. If he didn’t stop to help the men, they would likely drown; but if he did stop and help them he would lose his lifelong dream of winning an Olympic Gold Medal. Well, it might have been a heart-rending decision, but it didn’t take the young champion long to make it. He turned his boat toward into the screaming wind and paddled toward the desperate men. As he approached the man who was thrashing in the water, the man gasped, “Please help me! I can’t last much longer.” “Grab onto my boat when I come past you,” said Lemieux. “I can’t,” said the man. “I hurt my back and I can’t pull myself up into your boat.” Lawrence leaned over and grabbed the man’s vest and tried to haul him aboard, but the effort almost capsized the little craft. “Just try to hold on until we get to your boat,” shouted Lemieux. Somehow he managed to navigate his boat through the crashing waves and he managed to rescue the other man as well. He held them both until a patrol boat arrived. But the delay cost him any chance he had of winning an Olympic medal. He resumed the race, but finished in 21st place. In its place, the International Olympic Committee awarded him The Fair Play Award of the 1988 games in Seoul. And when he returned home, the members of Northwood Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington, had a special medal cast for him and draped it around his neck while the Canadian National Anthem was played. He told the congregation, “You spend your whole lifetime trying to achieve a goal, and my goal was winning a gold medal. I didn’t win a gold medal, but I won something more valuable—the love you’ve shown me here today.” While everyone else in the world is trying to win medals, accomplish goals, accumulate prizes, and achieve status, we have only one mission, don’t we—to rescue the perishing and care for the dying. This one life will soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. Felix Carvajal: Finish Well My favorite Olympic story is an odd one, and a wonderful story that brings us back to one of our original texts from the Apostle Paul. When the Olympic Games were held in St. Louis in 1904, there was an unusual entry in the Marathon. A small Cuban mail carrier named Felix Carvajal announced one day to his fellow postal workers that he was going to travel to the United States and win the Marathon for Cuba. He was without money or backing, yet he quit his job and began begging on the streets of Havana, seeking traveling funds. “Help me go to the United States,” he appealed, “and win a race for Cuba.” No one took him seriously, but somehow he collected enough money for the trip. He took a boat to New Orleans where he promptly lost all his money in a dice game. From New Orleans, he hitched rides to St. Louis where he arrived hungry and in rags. Members of the American team befriended him and gave him some food and a place to sleep. He had no running clothes and no running shoes, only heavy street shoes. He knew nothing about running and had no experience in track and field. Nevertheless, he cut off his pants above the knees and there he was at the starting line, street shoes and all. It was a sweltering day; the heat and humidity were oppressive. One by one, many of the other runners collapsed. One American runner nearly died. Felix, however, being from Cuba, thought nothing of the blistering conditions. He fairly skipped along, laughing and sometimes even pausing to joke with spectators along the way. With only two miles to go, Felix had a huge lead. He was running alongside an orchard and he spotted some apples. They fairly beckoned to him, and he stopped to eat some of them. They were green, and soon he was stricken with severe stomach cramps. He lost the lead, though he did come in fourth, doubled-over with pain. Of the thirty-one starters that day, only fourteen finished, and Felix was fourth among them. The Apostle Paul said: Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. He kept his eyes on the prize to the end, writing to Timothy near the end of his life, saying, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Let’s rededicate ourselves to meeting with the coach each morning, persevering through difficulties, nurturing the right friends, rescuing the perishing, and finishing well. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hated For Heaven’s Sake Robert Morgan When I was a boy growing up in the First Free Will Baptist Church in Elizabethton, I frequently heard there the reading of John 13, the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, followed by our Lord’s exhortation to "love one another." As a school child, I memorized the first verses of the next chapter, John 14: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you..." It was in college that I discovered the following chapter, John 15, the passage in which Jesus spoke of "abiding in the vine." We call these chapters, John 13-16, the Upper Room Discourse, because they contain the beautiful, comforting, and instructive words that Jesus spoke to his disciples around the supper table in the upper room on the eve of his crucifixion. But a closer reading of these chapters reveals an ominous tone. Yes, in these chapters Jesus did promise us peace in our hearts, a Comforter by our side, and eternal mansions in heaven. But he also warned of impending persecution and certain suffering. Break into the middle of chapter 15 with me and look at these words: /If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: "No servant is greater than his master." If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me (John 15:18-21). And as predicted, from the very beginning of its history the church of Jesus Christ has been hated by the world, unwelcome on this planet. From the beginning, Christians have been beaten, tortured, imprisoned, and slain. Just read the book of Acts. Persecution in the World Today But here in America we sometimes think persecution is a thing of the past, an ancient ingredient of Roman days when Christians were thrown to lions in the Coliseum. It may surprise you to know that more Christians have been martyred for their faith in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries of church history combined. The United States State Department currently lists more than 70 countries where persecution of Christians is either promoted or permitted. Over 200 million Christians now face intense persecution for their faith, and over 250 million undergo some form of discrimination. The problem is extremely severe and is spreading rapidly. In fact, some experts are saying that Christians will be the Jews of the 21st Century. In other words, just as the 20th century Holocaust sought to annihilate all the Jews in the world, so similar systematic attempts will be directed in the coming century against us in an effort to exterminate Christians. Recently I’ve torn several articles out of newspapers and off the wire services and here is a sampling of what we know: • Every single known Christian in the country of the Maldives (an island nation off the southern tip of India) has been rounded up and imprisoned. • The nation of Saudi Arabia which American troops are protecting today has no constitution and can accurately be described as the most repressive Muslim country in the world. It is rabidly anti-Christian. Church leaders in Saudi Arabia are being hunted down, fired from their jobs, imprisoned, and sometimes deported. In Saudi Arabia, even private Christian worship in private homes is forbidden. It is illegal to be overheard praying to Jesus Christ. It is illegal to display any Christian symbol. It is illegal for nationals or foreigners to distribute any form of Christian literature. Last year, 2 Filipinos were beheaded because they refused to stop witnessing to fellow inmates in prison. • In the Sudan, Christians are being seized and sold as slaves for as little as $15 each. • In southern Egypt more than 1200 Christians have reportedly been arrested in groups of 50 to 100. Some have been tortured. Witnesses report beatings, rapes, torture by electric shock, and some reports say that Christians are being nailed to crosses for short periods of time. Children and infants have been beaten and girls raped in front of their families, according to London’s Electronic Telegraph. • A Sri Lankan pastor serving among Hindus has been murdered just a few days ago. • On January 30th of this year, Laotian police raided a Bible study being attended by 40 people. 13 of these Bible students are still in jail, with 2 of them being held in solitary confinement under harsh conditions. The government charges that the Bible study was in violation of Article 66 of the criminal code of the government of Laos. • In Vietnam, 300 churches remain closed and at least 9 church leaders are currently imprisoned. The government of Vietnam just refused the request of Pope John Paul to visit the country. I could go on all day and all night, listing the nations and incidents of which we are aware. But I also want to say that we are not without a sort of persecution here, in our own country, in the United States of America. Persecution in America And here I would like to speak of academic persecution. What would you say if I asked you to name the foundational philosophical framework for modern society? In Muslim countries, it is Islam. In communist countries, it is Marxism? What is it in America? We could rightly say that it is Darwinism. In a recent book, John Ankerberg wrote, "Darwin’s theory of evolution is arguably the single most profound theory emphasized by science in the twentieth century. In terms of its impact and implications, nothing else even comes close." Aldous Huxley once declared, "Evolution has resulted in the world as we know it today." Phillip Johnson, law professor at Berkeley, wrote that evolution is "the key philosophical concept that has allowed the atheists and agnostics to dominate the whole intellectual world and government world," leading to "the complete marginalization of theism" in these realms. Philosopher J. Collins was quoted in a recent biology textbook as saying, "There are no living sciences, human attitudes, or institutional powers that remain unaffected by the ideas released by Darwin’s work." "Evolution is the most powerful and most comprehensive idea that has ever arisen on earth," wrote Sir Julian Huxley. Physicist H. S. Lipson wrote that Darwin’s book, On the Origin of the Species, is "perhaps the most influential book that has ever been published." The magazine Scientific American observes that, "Man’s worldview today is dominated by (evolution)." The problem of course is that the whole hypothesis of evolution is breaking down and falling apart, for a lie cannot be sustained indefinitely. More and more scientists are speaking out against it. I read just the other day these words by Dr. Isaac Manly of Harvard Medical School: What I have learned in the past ten years of review of recent scientific knowledge of cellular morphology and physiology, the code of life (DNA), and the lack of supporting evidence for evolution in the light of recent scientific evidence is a shocking rebuttal to the theory of evolution. There is no evidence of any kind for this theory. More and more scientists are daring to make such statements. And yet there is nothing like the pressure and academic persecution being directed toward them by the scientific community and by the media. Consider these examples: • Sir Fred Hoyle, a famous astronomer, was well on his way to being nominated for the Nobel Prize. But in his books he began expressing mathematically-based doubts as to Darwinism. He was rapidly eliminated from consideration for the Nobel Prize, his books were negatively reviewed, and he was marginalized by the scientific community. • Dr. A. E. Wilder-Smith delivered the Huxley Memorial Lecture at Oxford University in February 14, 1986. He spoke of creationism. Not one reputable scientific journal would publish his manuscript, and all records to his speech were deleted from the files at Oxford. There is not even a footnote today at Oxford indicating that such a speech was ever given. • Professor Dean Kenyon received his Ph.D. in biophysics from Stanford University and taught biology and evolution at San Francisco State University. One of evolution’s brightest voices, he co-authored a leading evolutionary textbook, Biochemical Predestination. But the more he studied the evidence, the greater became his doubts as to the viability of evolution. He added some lectures to his courses in which he spoke of intelligent design. The head of the biology department at San Francisco State University forbade his repeating the lectures, and soon Dean Kenyon was removed from his teaching position altogether and reassigned to overseeing lab work. Kenyon’s case came to the attention of San Francisco State University’s Academic Freedom Committee, and they ruled in his favor. But he was still denied his classroom. Even the Wall Street Journal and the American Association of University Professors came out in his favor. But he was still refused his classroom. • Robert V. Gentry is a research physicist and one of the world’s leading authorities on polonium haloes. When it was discovered that his work did not support evolution, all funding was cut off. • Dr. David A. Warriner received his bachelor’s degree from Tulane and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He was invited to join the Natural Science Department at Michigan State University. But because he was a creationist he was later denied tenure and fired, and since then he has been unable to find a teaching position at any other university. • Byron Nelson was denied his Master degree at Rutgers University because he was a creationist, despite an almost perfect grade point average. • Erville Clark was denied his Ph.D. in biology at Stanford merely because he was a creationist. • George Mulfinger, professor of physics in Greenville, South Carolina, was refused his Ph.D. despite graduating summa com laude with straight As. Why? He was a creationist. • Paul Oles, an astronomer and program director with the prestigious Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh was writing a column for the magazine Popular Science. As soon as he went public with his views on creationism, his column was canceled by the magazine. In his book, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, philosopher Daniel Dennett compares religious believers to wild animals who may have to be caged. He says that parents should be prevented from misinforming their children about the truth of evolution. In February of 1984, an article appeared in the magazine American Atheist written by Charles Edelman in which he stated that Christians are either mentally retarded or insane and should be prevented from having children. He wrote, "There are laws in most states which prevent the insane and the feeble minded from having or raising children. Since no one but a moron or a lunatic can believe the Christian religion, one wonders why believers are excluded from such prudent legal restrictions. I am for keeping religion out of the schools; I am for keeping religion out of the churches and the homes; in fact, I am for abolishing religion all together." So both in the world at large and in the United States of America, Jesus words prove true. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. How Should We Respond? How should we then respond? First, we must be more and more aware of the status of our brothers and sisters in the world. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he said: I want you to know the things that have happened to me, referring to his persecution and imprisonment. When he wrote to the Corinthians, he said, I would not have you ignorant about the things I have suffered. If you have access to the internet, check out these websites: www.persecution.org and www.persection.com. Both sites can give you updated information about persecution taking place in the world. And as you get this information, pass it on to any elected officials you know. Second, pray. Paul told the Philippians that his imprisonment would turn out to the furtherance of the Gospel through their prayers and the help given him by the Spirit of God. We know that Christianity is spreading most rapidly in lands where it is persecuted. Third, don’t be personally intimidated. Don’t be afraid to speak up for Jesus Christ. Be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit, so close to the Lord, so near his in prayer, that you will feel him prompting you to witness. A couple of weeks ago I was speaking at a church in Fort Lauderdale. My hotel was exactly one mile from the ocean, so in the afternoon I jogged to the beach and there I sat down beside a teenage boy. He was feeding the pigeons. He had given them names, and he seemed to be a lonely—a tender young man. I talked to him awhile, then realized it was getting late. I had to be back at my hotel in time for my ride. Later that evening, I felt very uneasy for I sensed that I had lost a great opportunity to share with that young man the Lord Jesus Christ. In his recently published autobiography, Billy Graham tells of a conversation with President John F. Kennedy. Mr. Graham was speaking at the 1963 National Prayer Breakfast, but he had the flu and felt terrible. He said, "After I gave my short talk, and he (Kennedy) gave his, we walked out of the hotel to his car together, as was always our custom. At the curb he turned to me. ‘Billy, could you ride back to the White House with me? I’d like to see you for a minute.’" But Mr. Graham begged off, saying, "Mr. President, I’ve got a fever. Not only am I weak, but I don’t want to give you this thing. Couldn’t we wait and talk some other time?" It was a cold, snowy day, and Graham was freezing without his topcoat. But the two men never met again, for only a little later Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Graham admits he is still haunted by having lost an irrecoverable moment to talk to the president about his soul. In her wonderful book just published by Randall House, Mabel Willey tells of an experience her mother had. She was sitting in church at the 11 o’clock Sunday morning service when she felt impressed to get up and leave the church. She felt she should go to the office of a lawyer friend in the building across the street. The Holy Spirit spoke to her very firmly, indicating that she should talk to the lawyer about the Lord. But she shrugged it off. "How ridiculous it would seem for me to go there at this time of day," she thought to herself, and she decided she just couldn’t possibly do it. Later in the day as she prepared lunch, her husband came in, very disturbed. "What’s wrong?" she asked. "It’s my lawyer friend," said Mrs. Willey’s father. "He just committed suicide." Mabel Willey said that her mother never got over having missed that opportunity. We are living in a dangerous, hostile, anti-Christian world, and the Bible warns us that all who live godly lives on this globe will suffer persecution. What should we then do? We should be aware of what is happening to our brothers and sisters, both here and abroad. We should speak up for them, and we should pray. And we should be alert to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, willing to be a witness regardless of the cost, the price, or the consequences. Willing to say: Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back. No turning back. I NEED HELP WITH MY SELF-CONTROL Rob Morgan The subject of today’s message is: “I need help with my self-control.” Self-control is the ability to live our lives with proper restraint and discipline. The self-controlled person rejects the notion that if it feels right it is right. The self-controlled person accepts that fact that we can’t live just the way we feel like living, we have to say learn to say “No” to some things and “Yes” to others. We often have to say “No” to things we want to do, and “Yes” to things we don’t particularly want to do. We have to deny our flesh and walk in the Spirit. We have to put a governor on our own urges, desires, lusts, and passions. Paul said in 2 Timothy 2 that the Christian is like an athlete who is always training for the Olympics. He is like a soldier training in the army. He is like a hard-working farmer tending his crops. It requires discipline, hard work, and self-control. As I prepared this message, I made a little list of areas in which we need to exercise personal restraint, wisdom, discipline, and self-control as Christians: Credit card usage, impulsive spending, and money management Anger management Tobacco and alcohol usage Drug addictions Gambling habits Our thought lives Our emotions and moods Our diets and in issues of nutrition Exercise Profanity and other sins of the tongue Pornography Sexual immorality in all its various forms Laziness Television, entertainment, and diversions This was a major topic in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. In Acts 24, the apostle Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea by the Sea. The governor of Judea, a Roman official named Antonius Felix and his wife Drusilla were interested in what Paul had to say, and they would often send for him. I’m sure the guards would come and say, “Paul, get cleaned up. Get shaved. Let’s find some better clothes for you. The governor’s calling for you. He and the Missus want to see you.” And Paul would be escorted from the prison to the palace to meet with Felix and Drusilla. What do you think Paul talked about? What were his talking points with them? Acts 24 says he discoursed on three things: righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. I think that’s a very interesting summary of Christianity: righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Later, when Paul wrote to Timothy, he warned that in the last days, the world would become increasingly undisciplined, and men and women would be increasingly characterized by a lack of self-control. Now today I’d like to show you how this topic set the theme for Paul’s letter to his other young colleague, Titus. The book of Titus comes immediately after 1 and 2 Timothy, and it is the third of Paul’s “Pastoral Letters.” Here’s the background: Sometime in the year AD 63 or 64, leaving Timothy in Ephesus, Paul and Titus had traveled together to the island of Crete to do evangelistic work. After a short time there, Paul went on, but he left Titus to continue the work. Some time later, Paul wrote back to Titus, giving him some instructions on how to form and develop churches and church leadership on the island. One of his great concerns was the fact that the people of Crete were much undisciplined in their behavior. It’s summed up in Titus 1:12: Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith. The subject of discipline and self-control, therefore, is paramount in the book of Titus, and it runs all the way through it. Let’s take a moment to trace it. In chapter 1, Paul gives Titus the qualifications necessary for appointing elders in the churches. Look at verse 6: He must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. In Titus 2:1: You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled. Continuing in verse 3 we read: Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled… Titus 2:6: Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. And now we come to one of the greatest passages on this subject in the Bible, and this is where I’d like for us to spend the rest of our time this morning, Titus 2:11-14: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. The subject of this paragraph is stated at the opening—the grace of God. Now, grace is just about the biggest word in the Bible, and it’s impossible to get your arms around it. It’s like the Giant Sequoia trees that Katrina and I visited last year in California. You can’t imagine how ancient and massive they are, and it’s impossible to get your arms around them. I don’t think fifty people lined up side-by-side could get their arms around those gigantic trees, and that’s the way it is with the grace of God. Grace, as we see it in the Bible, is a forest of Sequoia trees. So let me reduce it to its simplest common denominator. I’ll give you a little acrostic that we’ll use today as our working definition. Grace – GRACE – is: God’s Riches Available to Christians Every day I developed this definition this week one morning during my quiet time when I read John 1:16: From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. Grace is God’s riches available to Christians every day. Now in our passage today, three of those riches are listed for us. God’s Grace Brings Us Salvation First, God’s grace brings us salvation. That’s the way the paragraph begins: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people. Our English word salvation is transliterated from the Greek term sōtērion, and it simply means to be saved or to be delivered. When the Bible uses this term, it means to be saved and delivered from sin, guilt, shame, death, and everlasting destruction. This is the very heart of the message of the Bible. Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried, and He rose on the third day according to the Scriptures. And if we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Earlier this year, I was invited to participate on a radio program with Dawson McAllister. A young man called in from East Texas. His name was Gavan, and he described to us his struggles. He had battled drugs and alcohol for several years, and then he went into a three month rehab program. Afterward, however, a friend pulled him back into that world of addiction and pain. Recently that friend, Aaron, had overdosed in Galveston, and since then Gavan had been praying and seeking answers to the problems in his life. I had the opportunity of sharing the Gospel with Gavin, and there on nationwide radio I had the privilege of leading him in prayer to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. There are so many Gavan’s out there, and I just want to tell them all about the grace of God that brings salvation to all men, to all women, to all young people, and to all the world. God’s grace brings salvation. God’s Grace Brings Self-Control Second, God’s grace brings self-control. Look at the passage again: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. A very important word here is the verb teaches. The grace of God teaches us to say “No” to the bad habits, and to say “Yes” to the upright and godly habits. That means that being self-controlled and disciplined is a learned activity. It is acquired. It must be taught to the new Christian by the grace of God. It’s not necessarily something that comes to us all at once the moment we’re saved. It is something we must learn, and it’s an education that never stops as long as we’re on this sod. How does the grace of God teach us to live lives of self-control and discipline? Let me suggest three ways. The grace of God gives us a new set of motivations. We read in the Old Testament about the young man Daniel that he made up his mind—he purposed in his heart—that he would be not defiled. The young man Joseph in the book of Genesis made up his mind (in advance and before the temptation ever came) that he would not commit sexual immorality; so when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, he knew where he had drawn the line and he said no. Where do those godly and holy impulses come from? They are God-given. They come by the grace of God. It is God’s work in our lives first to last that enables us to live a holy and self-disciplined life. These new impulses toward godliness constitute the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Look down the page at Titus 3:3ff. Here Paul describes what happens to us before, during, and after salvation: At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passion and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. In other words, at one time we were undisciplined people, enslaved by our own passions and pleasures. But when the kindness of God our Savior appeared He saved us and gave us a new set of passions and impulses. He gave us a new lifestyle. He gave us new desires through the Holy Spirit whom God has generously poured out on us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 2 says, “Let your salvation work its way out in your life, for it is God who gives us both the will and the ability to do His good pleasure” (my paraphrase). So the grace of God gives us a new set of motivations. In the second place, the grace of God gives us a new set of models. Look at chapter 2:2: Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the Word of God. Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example…. We learn self-discipline and self-control best by being around people who possess those qualities. Today is October 31, Reformation Sunday. It was on this day in 1517 that a German monk and university professor named Martin Luther nailed a list of his beliefs and convictions to the door of the Cathedral at the lower end of the main street of the little village of Wittenberg, Germany, and that began the greatest reform movement in the history of the church. But as a young man, Luther was subject to great extremes, and he badly needed a model and a mentor. And the Lord gave him an older man, a friend, named Johann von Staupitz. And this man had such a profound effect on young Martin, that Luther later said, “If it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should have sunk in hell.” Looking back over my life, I realize that most of the disciplines that I have, to the extent that I have any, were picked up by watching people that I admired and respected. I attribute it to the grace of God, and I thank God for His having brought them into my life. So if you need help in a particular area of your life, find someone to watch. Find someone to be your friend in that area. Learn from them. Absorb their example and emulate them. In the third place, the grace of God gives us a new set of memory verses. The most powerful tool we have in establishing new habits and shoring up our disciplines is in the Word of God. Look at the way we see this emphasized here in Titus: Chapter 2: You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. In other words, if you want disciplined habits, you have to start with sound doctrine. Sound doctrine and biblical truth is the soil that produces godly living. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled… Verse 3: Teach… Verse 6: Encourage… Verse 9: Teach… Verse 15: These, then, are the things you should teach… Chapter 3, verse 8: This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. It is the teaching of Scripture that gives us the power to overcome our foibles and vices. I think the middle section of Ephesians provides us with a lot of examples here. If you need to become more self-controlled in your anger and emotional reactions, memorize Ephesians 4:26: In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. If you need to become more disciplined in your tongue, memorize verse 29: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up. If you need to bring to become self-disciplined in areas of sexuality and your thought life, memorize Ephesians 5:3: But among you there should not even be a hint of sexual immorality. If you need to become more disciplined in your use of alcohol, memorize verse 18: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit. The book of Proverbs is also very good, and the book of James. In fact, the whole Bible becomes our resource and an armory full of offensive weapons systems in our fight against temptation. There has no temptation taken us but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape. The Psalmist said, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” We have to learn the secret of resorting to the power of God’s Word to help us resist temptation. I remember how, as a young man in college, I was struggling with my thought life and I took a concordance and looked up every time that the word “mind” occurred in the Bible and then I choose some of those verses and memorized them. And it gave me ammunition against the temptation. God’s Grace Brings the Second Coming So the grace of God gives us salvation. The grace of God gives us self-control by providing a new set of motivations, of mentors, and of memory verses. And finally the grace of God gives us the Second Coming of Christ. Look at the way the passage in Titus 2 ends: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. I learned something a week or so ago that I’d never before thought about. In the older translations of the Bible, the final prayer of Scripture in the last paragraph of Revelation says, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” I’ve sometimes prayed that myself. But I had never thought about the words “…even so….” What does that mean? “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” Well, it refers to the words immediately preceding it which are the last red letter words of Jesus in the Bible and constitute the last promise of Scripture. Jesus said, “Behold, I come quickly.” “Even so” is a phrase referring back to the adverb “quickly.” We’re not just taught for Jesus to come again, but for Him to come again quickly. “Yes, Lord, even so—just as You have said, come quickly.” And one day soon, by the grace of God, He is going to do just that. But until then, we are to live holy, righteous, self-controlled lives in this present world. GRACE, then, is God’s riches available to Christians every day. It is grace extended in three tenses—past, present, and future His grace has brought us salvation. His grace is bringing us self-control. His grace will bring the Second Coming at just the pre-ordained moment. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good .Under The Cloud 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 10:6; Psalm 77; Exodus 14 Rob Morgan Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea…. Now these things happened as examples for us…. —1 Corinthians 10:1, 6 (NAS) The Lord has never spoken audibly to me, but He almost has—twice. Once when I was a teenager, seeking guidance regarding my schooling. The other occasion occurred years later while flying from Athens to New York. I didn’t want to go home. Ahead of me lay an impossible situation, and I was a bundle of nerves. A certain, sensitive area of my life had unraveled, and I inwardly throbbed. Gazing down on the choppy Atlantic, I asked God for His help then opened my Bible. The day’s reading, at it happened, concerned another sea—the story of the parting of the waters in Exodus 14. The seat beside me was vacant, but as I read the biblical account, I suddenly felt as though the Lord Himself had taken that seat and was personally tutoring me through the chapter. My fingers reached for a pen, and I started scribbling as fast as I could write. Ten propositions emerged—ten ways of handling impossible situations, a divine protocol for coping when we find ourselves caught "between the devil and the deep Red Sea." Like any wide-eyed Bible student, I thought I was the first to discover the real power of the Red Sea story, but I later learned I wasn’t. There was a forlorn man in ancient Jerusalem who beat me to the punch… The Middle Eastern sun had fallen hours ago, and the cold envelope of night had closed around Jerusalem. The streets of the old, stone city were emptying as stragglers stumbled home. All over town, oil lamps yielded the last of their flickering lights and pungent odors, and embers lay dying in the hearths. Under cover of darkness couples embraced, children slept, dogs barked, and young Israeli soldiers joked quietly on the ramparts, unalarmed and unafraid. The world was at peace. But in a tiny room near the temple, Asaph was awake, shivering and scared, sitting blanket-enfolded on the edge of his small bed. His world was in ruins, and, though exhausted, he couldn’t sleep. He would have preferred physical torture to such psychological pain. He battled to believe, fought to remain calm, to quell the rising fear, but it was a lost cause. Worries swelled and broke over him like restless, relentless breakers. He paced and prayed, but God seemed further than the distant moon. He knelt, but his knees hurt. He tried to lay down, but panic pushed him from bed. His imagination saw nothing in the darkness but trouble and terror. He wanted to cry, but couldn’t. Wanted to scream, but wouldn’t. Finally he sat at his small table, lit his lamp, picked up his quill, and began pouring his soul onto paper. Three thousand years have since passed, but we can re-live this episode and learn from it as needed—just by peering over Asaph’s shoulder and reading his anguished, angry words, for what he wrote long ago found its way into our Bibles under the heading of Psalm 77. This 20-verse hymn falls naturally into two parts, with the division occurring between verses 10 and 11. In the first stanza, verses 1-10, Asaph ventilates his feelings and asks six furious questions of God. But in the last half of the psalm, verses 11-20, he works his way from fear back to faith, and, surprisingly, he ends up, like I did, at the banks of the Red Sea. The first half of Psalm 77, then, we might call "Night," and the last half, "Light." Night Asaph’s first words are: I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. Peterson, in his paraphrase of Psalm 77, puts verse two like this: I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn’t heal. When friends said, "Everything will turn out all right," I didn’t believe a word they said…. He made an effort to pray, but his prayer seemed to die on his lips. I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. The Living Bible puts it, You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray. I hate those nights when I’m too tired to pray and too worried to sleep. For me, they often come when I’ve made the mistake of trying to pay the bills at bedtime, or when a loved one is ill or hospitalized, or when a child is out with the car past curfew. Especially then. The devil often chooses to attack under cloak of darkness. It’s no accident that Satan filled Judas’ heart at suppertime, and that our Lord was subsequently arrested at the midnight hour when both He and His disciples were exhausted. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s during the night watches. The disciple’s never seemed to sail into storms during the daytime, but only at night when their terror was magnified by darkness. Paul and Silas were whipped just as the sun was setting, then encased in the stocks of a blackened prison to suffer through the night. It was during the evening that a terrified Jacob confronted the divine wrestler, and that David huddled with his men, pursued by his rebellious son Absalom. During the daylight hours we tend to be a little more rested and busy. Our routines take over, giving us focus and stability. Friends come alongside to cheer us, and the sunshine lifts our spirits. But at night when the rest of the world sleeps, when exhaustion sets in, when darkness pervades, when shadows fall…. At night the devil prowls and growls and pounces on his prey. "You can have some mighty strange experiences at midnight," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, following a middle-of-the-night phone call threatening the lives of his wife and daughter. And so it was that Asaph’s emotions reeled and rolled through the night like a sinking ship on a stormy sea, causing him at length to spit out a series of six angry questions. We find them in verses 7-9, and they are addressed to God. Their intensity is felt not only by their sharp words but by their rapid-fire, staccato-like delivery: · Will the Lord reject forever? · Will he never show his favor again? · Has his unfailing love vanished forever? · Has his promise failed for all time? · Has God forgotten to be merciful? · Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Ever felt like asking those same questions? Ever said such things yourself? These questions are not coming from an atheist, agnostic, or bitter cynic, but from a godly man whose life has thus far been wholly given over to the Lord’s work. Asaph was Israel’s chief worship leader, a musician, a hymnist who had spent years studying God’s Word, practicing its principles, and teaching them to others through song. But now he was reduced by sorrow to wondering if God’s love had worn itself threadbare, if His grace had evaporated, if His promises had expired. As Peterson translates it: "Just my luck," I said. "The High God goes out of business just the moment I need him." One of my favorite preachers was the North Carolina evangelist Vance Havner. Once as a college student, I spent the afternoon with him and was impressed with his childlike humility, his keen grasp of Scripture, and his deep love and dependence on his beloved wife Sarah. Later after her death Havner was inconsolable. In one of his last books, he described his feelings like this: I think of a year that started out so pleasantly for my beloved and me. We had made plans for delightful months ahead together. Instead, I sat by her bedside and watched her die of an unusual disease. She expected to be healed but she died. Now, all hopes of a happy old age together are dashed to the ground. I plod alone with the other half of my life on the other side of death. My hand reaches for another hand now vanished and I listen at night for the sound of a voice that is still. And I am tempted a thousand times to ask, "My God, why…?" It is a question well-known to the heroes of Scripture. · Rebekah asked in Genesis 25:22: If all is well, why am I like this? So she went to inquire of the Lord. · Moses asked in Exodus 5:22: Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? · In Numbers 11:20, the Israelites asked: Why did we ever come up out of Egypt? · Gideon wanted to know, Why then has all this happened to us? (Judges 6:13). · Naomi groaned, I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why…? (Ruth 1:21). · Nehemiah asked, Why is the house of God forsaken? (Nehemiah 13:11). · Job said, Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? (Job 3:11). · Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble? asked David in Psalm 10:1. · Isaiah prayed, O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways? (Isaiah 63:17). · Jeremiah wanted to know, Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable? (Jeremiah 15:18). · Habakkuk asked, Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? (Habakkuk 1:3). · Even our Lord cried, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? in Matthew 27:46. The human soul cannot long live with this much pain, nor does God intend for us to. He wants us to move from night to light, and that is exactly what slowly happened to Asaph in Psalm 77. Light In verse 11, Asaph begins to reason his way, logically and by faith, out of anguish. He wrote: Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High." I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. There is only one way of coping with unbearable pain—you must learn to focus your thoughts on something unmovable and sure. I have a friend who endured torture-training in an elite, top-secret military unit. He was deprived of sleep, twisted into painful position, and submerged into vats of ice water. His instructors told that he could survive only by forcing his mind away from the pain and onto something fixed, solid, and sure. He could endure only by the intense focus of his mental energy on something genuinely enduring. Christians can cope with torturous levels of emotional pain by only focusing on one of three things: · God’s Power in the Past · His Presence in the Now · His Promises for the Future In Psalm 77, Asaph emphasized the first of those. I will remember your great deeds, Lord; I will recall the wonders you did in the past. I will think about all that you have done; I will meditate on all your mighty acts. Here, then, is a seminal lesson from God’s Word: Remembering God’s past faithfulness provides powerful reassurance in present crises. If God has been our help in ages past, He’ll be our hope for years to come. If He has begun a good work in us, He’ll carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. He hasn’t led us this far just to let us drown in bottomless seas of sorrow. The Lord will make a way, for He has a history of doing just that. Last year, I received a terrible blow that left me wandering around in a sort of spiritual daze which eventually gave way to depression. A friend of mine, seeing my funk, asked to see me. "In all your life," he asked, "has the Lord ever failed you? Has he ever abandoned or forsaken you?" I was brought up short, for the only possible answer was: "No, He hasn’t." "Then why do you think he has forsaken you now?" When the present is dark, switch on the flashlight of past blessings. God’s faithfulness in past crises is a token of His availability in current adversities. As the hymn says: Praise Him for His grace and favor To our fathers in distress; Praise Him, still the same as ever, slow to chide and swift to bless. Alleluia! Alleluia! Glorious is His faithfulness. What example of God’s faithfulness most enlivened Asaph during his "dark night of the soul?" The splitting of the sea in Exodus 14. His mind went back to that dramatic moment when, with powerful gusts from heaven, God delivered His people from a hopeless predicament. Continuing in verse 14, Asaph wrote: You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With a mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. He then described the wind and thunder and storm that swept over the Red Sea in full view of the huddled masses of trapped and terrified Israelites. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. And then Asaph said simply: Your path led through the sea. The Lord often leads us around the waters, and sometimes he walks on the water. But occasionally he takes us through the water. Isaiah once wrote: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…. This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters. Asaph’s mind then found relief from its present distress by remembering God’s power displayed to those in similar straits who discovered in spectacular fashion, that God can make a way even through the sea. Psalm 77 ends: Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. The point of it all is this: God put the Israelites in an impossible situation just to show them there are no impossible situations where He is concerned. And he recorded the story in Exodus 14 for our benefit. He wants us to know that His people are never trapped. When we seem caught betwixt sword and sea, He will make a way. The God of Israel designed one of the most spectacular miracles in the Bible just to teach us that lesson. It’s a divine model, giving us a biblical protocol—ten propositions—for dealing with acute anxiety. Just think of it: The winds blew, the sea split, the waters congealed into towering walls, and the Israelites passed through dry shod, not for the entertainment value of the experience, but to prove to us in earth-shaking, history-making fashion, that, even when we are most anxious and distressed, that… God will make a way Where there seems to be no way, He works in ways We cannot see. He will make a way for me. He will be my Guide, Hold me closely to His side, With love and strength For each new day. He will make a way. He will make a way. Seven Ways To Break Bad Habits Proverbs 5:21-23; 1 Corinthians 10:13 Rob Morgan Today we are continuing our series of messages entitled "Trade Secrets of Successful People: 54 Helps, Hints, and Habits for Strengthening Your Life." Our topic today is "Seven Ways to Break Bad Habits," and our Scripture reading is from Proverbs 5:21-23: For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. Here is a man who has developed some sinful habits; he has some flaws in his character and behavior. Those flaws and faults are habitual, and they are described as "cords." The cords of his sin hold him fast. The New Living Translation says: They are ropes that catch and hold him. That description reminds us of what Horace Mann, the great educator, once said: "Habits are like a cable. We weave a strand of it every day and soon it cannot be broken." I recently read an article in ParentLife Magazine which told of a teacher who wanted to show her pupils the power of habits, and how they are formed through repeated actions or thoughts. Taking a roll of thread, she wrapped it one time around a student’s wrists when placed together. "That," she said, "represents your doing something one time. Can you break the thread?" The student easily did so. Then she wrapped the thread around his wrists, two, three, four, five or more times. The effort to break the thread became more and more difficult until finally the child was unable to free his hands at all. "That," she said, "is what happens when acts are repeated until they become habits." The famous American psychologist William James said that by allowing separate acts to reoccur until they become habits we are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone…. Samuel
1 Coríntios 15:58
Vincent comments on "Steadfast, unmovable. The former refers to their firm establishment in the faith; the latter to that establishment as related to assault from temptation or persecution. Fixedness is a condition of abounding in work. All activity has its center in rest (1 Corinthians 15 Commentary) The call to be immovable is reminiscent of Paul's exhortation in Ephesians… As a result (Ep 4:11-note, Ep 4:12, 13-note), we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ (Eph 4:14, 15-note). Jamieson sums up Paul's command to be… steadfast—not turning aside from the faith of the resurrection of yourselves. unmovable—not turned aside by others A W