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Death is sleep

In Mark 5 Jesus raises Jairus’ dead daughter to life.  A little while before Jairus, a synagogue ruler, approached Jesus, the itinerant preacher, for help.  The request was highly irregular:  Jairus was a respected, honourable man in that culture.  Yet, he falls (quite unceremoniously) at the feet of a homeless, poor, miracle worker’s feet and begs Jesus to heal his desperately ill daughter.  Jesus agrees to go with Jairus to his house.

On the way they hear that the girl has died.  Jesus surprisingly says that she isn’t dead, but only sleeping.  Why did Jesus say that? Was he mistaken? 

Jesus wanted to make a point about death.  Human beings view death as permanent and sleep as temporary.  You go to sleep expecting to wake up.  You anticipate being alive the next day.  Death is the opposite. It’s permanent. No anticipation. No expectation. You’re dead.

Next Jesus goes into the girl’s room and takes her by the hand. This was a controversial act as Jewish law said that a corpse was ceremonially unclean and anyone touching a corpse became unclean.  Jesus then says, “Little girl, I tell you, get up”.  As we see throughout Mark 4-5, creation must obey it creator.  The storm must quiet down, the legion of demons must leave and the little girl must become alive again.   Mark wants us to understand that Jesus is not a spiritual teacher, but God with us, in the person of his Son, Jesus.  Jesus is God.  All other views about Jesus are blasphemous.

One of the learnings from this account is that death to Jesus and to the Christian is sleep.  Death is not the end and it’s not permanent.  It is temporary and transitory.  Jesus died and rose again on the third day destroying the power of death over his people.  When we finally lay down our heads it is in the expectation and anticipation of being in the presence of Jesus.  We remember that Jesus said to the dying man next to him on the cross: Today, you will be with me in paradise.

Jesus and animal activism

Don’t misunderstand me.  God cares for animals and part of our cultural mandate as human beings is to be good stewards over the earth, including the animal kingdom.  Cruelty to animals is wrong.  The last verse in the book of Jonah tells us that God was concerned for both the people and the animals living in Nineveh.

Mark 5 contains therefore a very surprising account of Jesus’ encounter with a demonized man.   In fact, the naked, bleeding, howling man is possessed by a legion of demons. The demons immediately recognise who Jesus is and beg Jesus not to send them to hell (the place of ‘torment”, v7).  Jesus instead sends the demons into a herd of two thousand pigs, which then immediately run off a cliff and drown.  Animal activists might be upset at this point. 

Human beings more important than animals

Why did Jesus do this?  Did Jesus dislike pork? Firstly, I think it must be said that we must acknowledge that according to the Bible human beings are more important that animals.  Humans are made in the image of God, not animals (Genesis 1).  Rather than getting worked up over two thousand dead pigs, we should thank God for the saving of one precious life created in his image.  One person is worth more than two thousand penguins or two thousand dolphins.  Perhaps we need to re-prioritise our thinking at this point.

Operation destroy

Secondly, I think that the reason Jesus diverted the demons into the herd was to visibly show his disciples and us what Satan’s intention was with that man – and every human.  Satan’s aim is to kill and destroy you and your children (John 10:10).  That’s why the man was cutting himself with sharp stones.  Satan may use direct possession, or he may use lust, drugs, jealousy, divorce, money or something else – but the overall goal remains the same.

Yet, after the man’s encounter with Jesus he is totally transformed.  He is sitting down, dressed and in his right mind (v15). He is forgiven and freed.

You may not be demon possessed, but without Jesus you are also in a desperate situation.  Satan is seeking to destroy you.  Jesus is the one who has conquered Satan through his death for sin and his resurrection to new life.  Like that man, you need to have an encounter with the stronger man who binds up Satan (Mark 3:27).

The divinity of the carpenter’s son

Who is Jesus?  Islam claims that Jesus was a prophet, almost as holy as Muhammad.  The Jehovah Witnesses claim that Jesus is the highest created angel.  Bestselling author and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra would view Jesus as a great spiritual teacher and guide.  In The Third Jesus, he claims also that there is not one Jesus, but three.

According to Deepak:

 First, there is the historical Jesus, the man who lived more than two thousand years ago and whose teachings are the foundation of Christian theology and thought. Next there is Jesus the Son of God, who has come to embody an institutional religion with specific dogma, a priesthood, and devout believers. And finally, there is the third Jesus, the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, to attain what some might call grace, or God-consciousness, or enlightenment.”

Ultimately, Deepak argues:

“Christianity needs to overcome its tendency to be exclusionary and refocus on being a religion of personal insight and spiritual growth. In this way Jesus can be seen for the universal teacher he truly is–someone whose teachings of compassion, tolerance, and understanding can embrace and be embraced by all of us.”

Are these views of Jesus correct?

Mark records the account of the disciples joining Jesus in a boat, at Jesus’ request, to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41).  V37 tells us that a “great” storm arose and the waves struck the boat, filling it with water.  The experienced fishermen in the boat were panicking.  Jesus, in contrast, is sleeping on a pillow (We see a bit of Mark’s humour here!).  The disciples wake Jesus up and reprimand him for his lack of care.

Jesus’ response is breath-taking.  Jesus’ response enables us answer the question of his identity.  V39 says, ‘Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.’  Jesus rebukes the wind and speaks to the waves.  More importantly, they listen to him.  Literally v39  says there was a “great” calm. Little red alarms bells should be going off in your head right now.  Where else in the Bible are words spoken and nature obeys?  Genesis 1.  God speaks and it is so.  The words, “And God said let there be” and “It was so” are repeated numerous time.  

What does Mark want to tell us about Jesus?  Its very simple, Jesus is God.  The disciples realised this and v41 says that after seeing nature’s response to Jesus’ words, they “feared a great fear”.  First a great storm, then a great calm, now a great fear.  Creation listens to Jesus and obeys him.  The disciples realised in some small way that they were in the presence of divinity.  Jesus is God the Son, second person of the triune God come into our world to rescue all those who submit to him as Lord and follow him as King.   

Because Jesus was fully human he could bear God’s justice for human’s sins.  And because Jesus was fully God he could bear all the sins of all God’s people and extend God’s forgiveness to all us.

Who do you think Jesus is?

A mustard seed kingdom

Jesus said that God’s Kingdom, which he came to inaugurate, is like a mustard seed - it starts small and ends big.

"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?  It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.  Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

Mark 4:30-34

If you were a Jewish person living in the first century you may have had a herb garden with a mustard bush.  You would have known that a mustard seed is very small, and you would know that the shrub hardly has branches big enough for birds to sit on.  You would have found Jesus parable very interesting.

Superpower

In the Old Testament books of Daniel and Ezekiel the superpowers of the day were symbolically referred to as huge trees with braches that even the birds of the air could sit on.  Babylon and Assyria were the great kingdoms and indeed superpowers, wielding great strength and influence.

According to Jesus, the kingdom of God may appear weak, insignificant and negligible, but we need only wait.  The Kingdom of God is growing as people hear and accept the word about Jesus (Mark 4:1-20) and after the growing is done the Kingdom will be established in all its fullness at the “harvest” at the end of this age (Mark 4:26-29).

Daniel referred to the kingdom of God in a similar way in Daniel 2.  He said the kingdom it like a small rock that ultimately destroys all the kingdoms of this world.  The small rock grows to become a mountain that fills the whole earth!

Supernatural

Of course, mustard bushes don’t have big branches.  I think Jesus is saying that the growth of this kingdom is not due to our planning or strategies or programmes, the growth of this kingdom is supernatural, God does it! We are to be faithful and sow seeds, but its up to God to make the seed grow and to that end we must be depending on God in prayer.

The kingdom of God is coming.  We will need to be patient.  Don’t be discouraged.  Don’t be fooled into thinking Christianity is worthless.  The kingdom may appear weak and inconsequential at the moment, but have no fear! When God’s kingdom finally comes in all its fullness we will be amazed and astounded at it bigness, powerfulness and all-encompassing influence. 

Why don’t we pray?

I think there are three main reasons:

1.  Too busy

Our lives are so busy and cluttered.  We tend to schedule everything else, except pray.   We make time to watch rugby, but not to pray.  Perhaps we need to allocate time in our diary or go to bed an hour earlier in order to spend time in prayer.

2.  Don’t believe it makes a difference

Jesus and the early church were convinced that prayer makes a difference.  Jesus often woke up early to pray and would spend the entire night in prayer before big decisions.  The early Christians were often on their knees before God and God worked in awesome ways.

We, reformed people, believe (quite rightly) that God is sovereign over all of life.  We have read Ephesians 1:11.  But often we tend to think like this: If God is sovereign and everything happens according to his will, why pray?  What we should really be thinking however is this:   If God were not completely in charge there would be no use praying!

Think about it! Imagine you prayed, “God please save my children!” and God said, “Well, I tried to but you children are so naughty – they just won’t listen.”  Or if you prayed, “God please give us good weather for the gospel event on Saturday!” and God said, “I tried, but have you seen the weather forecast – just can’t do it. Sorry.”  Or imagine you prayed, “God, please change my husband”, and God replied, “I really tried but he drinks too much and is too stubborn!” 

If God were not completely, totally and actually in charge there would be no use praying.

So, if God is sovereign and his purposes and plans come to pass, does that mean my prayers will not change anything? What will be will be?  We see in the Bible the amazing truth that in God’s Sovereignty he uses our prayers to accomplish his purposes:  We are told to pray because God answers pray and we are also told that God in Sovereign and His purposes will never be thwarted.  As Christians, we hold to both these truths.

3.  Sin

1 Peter 3:7 is an interesting verse, it says, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

A husband should not sin against his wife as that will hinder his prayers. How?  Deliberate sin tarnishes our friendship with God.  We feel ashamed, full of guilt, embarrassed and reluctant to approach the holy God.  

We should remember that Jesus has paid the price for all our sins by his substitutionary death.  The solution for us is to confess our sins before God, admit that we have done wrong and turn from those sins.  Then thank God for the forgiveness we have through Christ, ask our wife’s forgiveness (or whoever else you sinned against$) and get praying!

Be encouraged to pray, for yourself, for your family, for your fellow Christians, for gospel workers and for people who don’t know Jesus.

The social gospel

Jesus lived at the time when the Roman Empire was the superpower.  The Romans had built magnificent cities, building and roads. 

 At our annual Missions Conference this past weekend we were reminded how the gospel spread via these roads.  Roads were the “social media” and “social platform” of the first few centuries AD.  People chatted on the roads; roads interlinked towns; roads were used for business and for travelling together (strength in numbers); roads were one of the main public social spaces; roads were very social; roads ideally suited the spread of the gospel of Jesus.  Ordinary people spoke about Jesus to others on these roads and shared the gospel in the various towns these roads lead to.  It was ordinary, everyday, organic evangelism. 

New churches, as a direct consequence, were planted all along these Roman roads.

What are our equivalents of the “Roman road” system?  What are the public social spaces open to us in which we can naturally talk about Jesus?

Is it perhaps:

Chatting to other parents at your child's birthday party?
A Mixed Martial Arts class?
The golf course?
Facebook?
An open home as you invite newcomers to tea after a church service?
A hiking club?
A blog?
A regular morning walk with a neighbour to keep fit?
A college social?
Coffee at Vida e cafe?

Covenant baptism: Why we baptise some babies and some adults

Why do we baptise some babies and some adults at our church?  Baptizing babies seems to be quite a controversial practise these days and often the baptizers are accused of flouting biblical principles for the sake of unbiblical tradition.  Convinced Baptists argue that we should only be baptising believing adults because there are, they maintain, only explicit biblical examples of believers’ baptism in the New Testament and because, they maintain, baptism is reserved only for those that have expressed faith in Jesus.

I would like to challenge both those assertions.

The Church of England in South Africa is certainly not opposed to baptising believers, and regards that practise as biblical and indeed mandatory.  Article 27 of our statement of faith reads:

Baptism is a sign of the faith we profess and a mark that differentiates Christian persons from those who are unbaptized; and it is also a sign of regeneration or new birth by which, as by an instrument, those who receive baptism rightly are grafted into the Church, the promises of forgiveness of sin and of our adoption to be the sons of God are visibly signified and sealed, and faith is confirmed and grace increased by virtue of prayer to God.  The baptism of young children is under all circumstances to be retained in the Church as a practice fully agreeable with the institution of Christ.

Four fifths of the above article refers to the baptism of believers, but as the article confirms, we also hold that it is biblical for (believing) parents to baptize their small children as a sign and seal of the new covenant, in continuation of the sign and seal of circumcision under the old covenant.

The question we must ask then is what was circumcision all about?

In Genesis God made a covenant with Abraham to bless families from the entire world.  The covenant sign would be the circumcision of all the males in Abraham’s household, including the butler, the domestic help and the children (Genesis 17:9-14).  Abraham’s descendents were to keep the sign by circumcising all male babies.  Foreigners who wanted to be part of Israel and serve Israel’s God also needed to be circumcised.

 Circumcision, for the male children, was therefore applied to those who had not yet expressed their faith in God.  This may seem to be at odds with our natural evangelical inclination to see faith as a prerequisite to almost everything, but Paul explains the reasoning in Romans 4:11 when he refers to circumcision as a “sign” and a “seal”.  As a sign circumcision marked out the covenant people and illustrated that salvation involves the shedding of blood.  As a seal circumcision was a visible pledge from God to honour his covenant for those who expressed faith in him.  The seal is simply a visible pledge from God that when the conditions of the covenant are met, the blessings he promised would apply.

Under the new covenant this principle remains true, as Peter implied when he told the Jewish crowd that the gospel promise was for them and their children (Acts 2:39).  The covenant sign is no longer circumcision as the shedding of blood has already taken place, but the sign is now baptism which pictures the washing away of sin (cf. Colossians 2:11-22).  So baptism continues to function as a sign and a seal of a family’s faith in God and thus in the New Testament we have examples of whole families being baptised when a parent becomes a Christian (cf. Acts 16:30-31, 33).  When men and women in the New Testament turned to Jesus they were baptized (believer’s baptism) and children present were also baptised as a visible pledge from God that he would fulfil his covenant promises when the child in the future fulfilled the covenant conditions or obligations.

Covenant baptism (both believers’ and infant) must therefore be understood as visible pledges or observable reminders or sacrament from God to us (like the Lord’s Supper), not pledges from us to God, of the gospel promise that all who trust is Jesus will be accounted righteous.

John Calvin wrote, “Since God imparted circumcision, the sign of repentance and faith, to infants, it should not seem absurd that they are now made partakers of baptisms unless men choose to act against an institution of God…For it is most evident that the covenant, which the Lord once made with Abraham, is not less applicable to Christians now than it was anciently to the Jewish people, and, therefore, that word has no less reference to Christians than to Jews. (Institutes 4.16.20, 6)

Why then do we baptise believers’ children and new adult believers?  Because God’s covenant, the framework within which he operates, has not changed.

Ps We do not view baptism as a salvation issue and are very happy to enjoy fellowship with those who hold to  different views on baptism.

Guardian angels and spirit helpers

There is a website where you can find out what the name of your guardian angel is.  It apparently depends on which day of the week you were born. My guardian is  apparently St. Sealtiel, who allegedly “stands before God, with incenser in hand in unceasing adoration of the Most Holy Trinity. As the Archangel of contemplation and worship, his angelic purity transforms the love and worship which we mortals give to God.”  Another world class psychic says, “From the moment of birth our heavenly father assigns Angels to us.  They awaken our consciousness to the presence of the divine that already exist in each and every human being (our soul).”

The Bible teaches that angels are created spiritual beings of high intelligence and able to speak to people (cf. Matthew 28:5).  They do not ordinarily have physical bodies and they cannot be seen unless God gives us the ability to see them (cf. 2 Kings 6:17).  Not only are angels sent by God to guard and protect us (cf. Hebrews 1:14, Psalm 91:11), but they also join with us in worshipping God (cf. Hebrews 12:22).  Angels appeared in bodily form to many people in the Bible.  Two angels – Michael and Gabriel – are the only angels identified in the Bible.

No guardian angels

The Bible teaches that angels although angels are powerful, they are not of infinite power.  Their power is used to aid us in our battle against the world, flesh and the devil carry out some of the commands of God.  The Bible does not teach that we each have a guardian angel or that we should in any way try to communicate with them or seek their guidance. 

Touched by an angel?

How should we respond to the Bible’s teaching on angels?  I think, we ought to acknowledge they exist and be encouraged that if we belong to God they can and do help us (cf. Acts 5:19-20).   On the other hand, we are warned not to receive false teaching from supposed angels.  Galatians 1:8 says, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”  The Apostle Paul may have been using hyperbola in that verse, but it is astounding to hear of the number people in South Africa who are into angel-religion and attend workshops on angels run by “spiritual facilitators”.  

More and more people are turning to “angels” for guidance, advice and help.  Instead of listening to the Bible, they are listening to facilitators, angels and shaman.   Instead of believing the gospel about Jesus, they believe the messages from “spirit helpers”.  Satan is also said to disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:4).  One just has to consider the number of world religions and individual people who have heard messages from “angels” that have caused them to reject or ignore Jesus to see the truth of what the Bible says.   

Guidance

God has speaks to us through the Bible.  If you ever receive guidance from an angel or know someone who has, I would be highly suspicious and seek to practise a large dose of biblical discernment.  We should worship and listen to the One who the angels worship and listen to.

What’s lacking in the death of Jesus?

Suffering must be part of normal Christian living.  Any theology or type of Christianity that teaches that Christians should live the victorious life and not suffer is at best unbiblical and at worst extremely dangerous.
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over all of life and at times appoints suffering in the lives of his people. 

The Apostle Paul was no stranger to suffering.  He saw suffering as a normal part of Christian living, in fact, he saw suffering as a gift from God.  He wrote in Philippians 1:29, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him”.  Suffering is a gift that God gives to those found worthy enough to suffer “on behalf of Christ”.

Suffering a gift?

Why would God grant us to suffer on behalf of Christ?  Paul gives the answer in Colossians 1:24 which says, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Paul (who we know suffered all kinds of hardships) says he makes up in his own body through suffering what is lacking in Christ’s suffering and death.  What is lacking?  Surely not the atoning value of Christ’s death!  Paul has just said in v20 that through his death on the cross Jesus reconciled all things to himself. Colossians 2:20 tells us that through the cross Jesus cancelled all the charges written against us.  Colossians 2:15 says that through the cross Jesus triumphed over evil powers.  The cross of Jesus does not lack in atoning power!

What’s lacking in the cross of Jesus?

What is lacking is that many people don’t read the Bible and don’t know Jesus.  They don’t see or know about the meaning or power or atoning value of Christ’s afflictions.  What’s lacking in Jesus’ sufferings is their “known-ness”, their “proximity”, their “know-ability” to your friends.   Your friends can’t see Jesus, but they can see you.  When you, as a follower of Jesus, persevere in trusting Jesus in the midst of suffering and hardship, Jesus is made more famous.  When you refuse to stop loving Jesus in the midst of tough times, Jesus is put on display and the power of his atoning death is "seen".

Recently someone in our church experienced a massive trial: a brain tumour.  This person’s immovable trust in Jesus despite tough circumstances made Jesus’ name more famous to us Christians and her non-Christian friends.

The Bible is soaked in suffering.  If your theology or your church teaches that suffering is not part of the Christian life or is the result of inadequate faith, you need to read the Bible more often.

God wants you to be happy (in him)

God does not want you to be sad and grumpy.  He wants you to be happy.   Or, as Psalm 67 says, God wants you to “be glad and sing for joy” (v4). 

Every single person desires to be happy.  We get married to be happy.  Many get divorced.  We buy furniture.  We sell furniture.  We do all kinds of things to be happy.  Wanting to be happy is not wrong; but wanting to find happiness in the wrong things is.

 Paul said it this way in Romans 1:25, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator.”  We have tried to find happiness in created things rather than the Creator; we have loved the gifts rather than the Giver. 

 A few weeks ago my wife and I bought a cool lounge suite for our braai room.  It was our first furniture purchase.  I envisioned relaxing evening with a glass of red wine.  I imagined enjoying the soft seats while the fire blazed.  I pictured feelings of happiness and tranquillity.  Finally we had our suite.  Well, the dog messed (euphemism!) on the floor which I had to clean up and the fire would not burn because the wood was wet.  The steak turned out to be cardboard and the lounge suit was not quite what we had thought.  My happiness, sadly, went up the chimney.

 C S Lewis put it this way, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

 The problem is not that we seek joy and happiness, but that we seek them in wrong things.   The bible tells us that true and unending and infinite happiness is found in God, not in things.

 Therefore the Psalmist pray in Psalm 67 that God’s ways may be known on earth and his salvation among all nations.  He desires people from all the nations to be happy and glad in God so that they “may praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.”

 Are you happy in God?  Or are you trying to find happiness in mud pies?  Do you desire and pray and plan to share your happiness in God with your neighbours and the nations?

Meeting and Mating

A recent survey on Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think About Marriage exploded these popular myths:

long-term exclusivity is a fiction.

the introduction of sex is necessary in order to sustain a fledging or struggling relationship.

the sexual double standard is inherently wrong and must be resisted by any means.

boys will be boys. That is, men can’t be expected to abide by the sexual terms that women may wish to set.

porn won’t affect your relationships.

everyone else is having more fun than you are.

sex need not mean anything.

marriage can always wait.

moving in together is definitely a step toward marriage.

It seems like the Bible's guidelines for sex in marriage are not so old fashioned after all.

Being a pastor is sometimes depressing

We preach our hearts out, wake up early for gospel breakfasts, spend hours discipling and training, and pray hard for conversions and gospel growth.  What a great joy it is to see Jesus working in people’s lives and families transformed.  However, at the same time, we see other people drifting away from the church, not walking close to God, not serving in ministry or making any kind of Christian impact.  If they manage to get out of bed on a Sunday morning to connect with God’s people, it’s a burden and a pain.  Once they seemed to be Christians, but now there is nothing distinguishing them from their non-Christian neighbours.

Jesus had the same problem.  Many loved him. Some wanted to kill him. 

Why these differing responses to the same message of God?

According to Jesus in Mark 4 there are four typical hearers of God’s word.

It is interesting to note that they all do hear!  They might have had Christian parents who taught them the Bible, they might have attended Sunday school, they might attend church services, and they might even belong to a cell group.  They all do hear the word.

1. Rejecting Ray

Jesus said in v15, “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.”

Ray hears the gospel, but he doesn’t respond, doesn’t believe and doesn’t trust.  His love of sin, his pride and his rebellion cause him to reject the message of Jesus.

I’ve met many rejecting Ray’s and so have you.  They’ve heard the gospel, they know the Bible, they went to Sunday School and can quote the verse.  The excuses they make up are predictable: “You can’t believe the Bible; the Bible is for weaklings; the Bible has errors; I’m actually good enough for God.”  They are even professors at theological seminaries.

The scary thing here is that there is someone else involved.  V19 says “Satan comes and takes away the word”.  A spiritual battle is waged whenever someone hears the Bible explained.   When you reject Jesus you allow Satan to steal the captive-freeing word away.   The warning in the Bible is that if you permanently reject Jesus, you’ll be permanently separated from him.

2. Superficial Sylvia

Jesus said in v16-17, “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

Sylvia makes a superficial and impulsive response to the message of Jesus.  When the time of testing, trial or temptation comes she falls away – showing that her response was not true, not genuine, and not real.  She trusts for a short while, makes a commitment,  attends faithfully for a period, serves in the church, but when the difficult time comes she walks away from God.  The Bible tells us that the time of testing will come, indeed must, come.   But when it comes she say things like: “God doesn’t love me.  God doesn’t care for me.  Why is God hurting me?”  The initial response was emotional and shallow; it had no deep roots anchored in Jesus

3.  Preoccupied Pete

Jesus said in v18-19, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Preoccupied Pete is preoccupied with other stuff.  God gives us good gifts to enjoy, but Pete loves the gifts more than the Giver.  Making money is a good thing, but loving money is bad.  Children are gifts from God, but when life starts revolving around your children instead of Jesus – that’s bad. Comfort is a good thing.  God doesn’t mind you sleeping on a mattress.   But if life starts revolving around comfort and you start making decisions based on how your comfort levels will be influenced, rather than pleasing Jesus – that’s bad.  God’s gifts can become idols that distract us from Jesus and cause us to walk away from God.

Preoccupied Pete is stuck.  There are blatant sins he can’t get rid off.  He’s immature and serving other things instead of Jesus.  He loves his car more than Jesus.  He cares too much about what people think, the size of his flat screen, and wearing fashionable clothes.  Being fashionable is not a sin, but loving fashion and spending more on fashion than on Jesus, is.

Whenever there’s negative growth on the JSE he is distraught.  Pete is always thinking about his net worth.  He always arrives home late and hardly ever sees the children awake.   He never earns enough and is never content.   Do you know this guy?  His sister, Patricia, is much the same.

The thorns start looking good, he’s enticed by them and they chock the word.  The only solution is to get rid of the thorns: end the dodgy relationship, sell the motorbike, throw away the golf clubs, don’t take the promotion, be content with your car and home, disconnect the internet.  Do some serious weeding, before the thorns destroy you.

4. Fruitful Fred

Lastly, Jesus said in v20, “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

This guys makes the pastor’s hard work all worthwhile.  Fruitful Fred hears the word, accepts the word and bears fruit.   He continually repents of sin and trusts in Jesus.  The fact that he bears fruit shows that the seed is growing, that his roots are deeply grounded in Jesus.  Fred does not say, “I’m saved!  Sit back do nothing!”  He says, “I’m saved,  rescued, freed and delivered; how can I honour God with my family; please God at college; glorify God with my work; impact my family; grow spiritually; love God’s people; serve my church; and  influence my city for good?”  When the tough times come, Fred perseveres.  When thorns spring up, Fred deals with them.

What kind of a hearer are you?

God’s trumpet and air meetings?

What will happen when Jesus returns as conquering hero?  Will we float forever in the clouds? 

The Bible teaches that Jesus lived, died, rose back to life, ascended to heaven (from where he now reigns and rules) and promised to come back to us at what is commonly called the Second Coming.  

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 the apostle Paul, the author of a large chunk of the New Testament, speaks about the Second Coming of Jesus.

 This passage mentions two things that will happen:  God will blow his trumpet and all Christians will meet Jesus in the air.  What’s this all about?

Here is verse 16-17:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

The trumpet

In Old Testament times there was no Facebook or Twitter.  No email.  Not even a telegram!  (Do people even remember what a telegram is?)  No bbm-ing to get together to start a riot or Facebook-ing to overthrow a government.  When the priest wanted to gather God’s people together at the temple they had their own form of social media: the trumpet.  When God’s people heard the trumpet they knew they were to gather for a feast or special occasion.

The Bible says that Jesus will return “with the trumpet call of God”.  In other words, God is going to gather all his people:  those alive at the time and those who have died in the faith.  There will be an awesome reunion.  It won’t be the priests calling the people, but God himself calling his people to himself.

The air

When a VIP (like the emperor or consul) paid an official visit to a city in the Greco-Roman world (the world in which the New Testament was written), the leading citizens would go out of the city to meet him and escort him on the final stage of his journey back into the city.  This is the language and concept here.

We will reign with Jesus and each other on a very physical, renewed earth.  We will have renewed, resurrected bodies, just like Jesus’ resurrected body.  We will escort Jesus back to the renewed earth and be with him forever.  Even in the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem (a picture of God dwelling with his people) comes from heaven to earth.  Many Christians think that heaven is our “souls” floating for eternity in the air!  How terrible!  How boring!  This is not what this passage or the Bible teaches.  

Of course, those who have not submitted to Jesus will not be at that reunion or be escorting Jesus back to the renewed earth.

Why trust the Bible?

Psalm 12:6 says “The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.”
God’s words (the text of the Bible), is like silver refined seven times

Why not just refined once once?

“Seven” in the Bible is the number for completeness and wholeness.  What Psalm 12:6 is saying is that God’s words are completely pure, without error and wholly reliable.

Yet, there may be more to the number seven:

The first refining fire was used to burn away the combustibles in the silver bearing rock.

Then the ore container (the clay pot) was sealed from the air, first having some material added, such as charcoal, which would chemically remove the oxygen from the silver oxide. This would result in silver metal flowing to the bottom of the container with the molten rock (the slag) above it. The process was repeated a few times so that all the reclaimable silver was removed from the valuable ore.

The next problem that had to be solved was to remove the impurities such as copper, arsenic etc. in the silver and because they have different melting temperatures, they had to be carefully removed in fires of different temperatures.

Also, because not much coal or coke was available, wood had to be used and this first had to be converted into charcoal to remove its impurities because any smoke resulting from say the wax or oil in the wood that reached the molten metal would cause further impurities in the metal.

Fluxes, such as beeswax were also discovered, which in certain circumstances formed a film over the surface of the molten metal, also causing impurities to separate and float to the surface.

Further, a blast of air had to be forced through the burning charcoal with the aid of bellows so that the fire would burn hot enough.

We see that the refining of silver was a fairly complex process - seven fires probably had to be used. Further, this process was learned over a period of many generations of metalworkers and silversmiths. If the wrong process was used, the resultant metal could have been copper instead of silver.  If the fire was not hot enough because of the laziness of the silversmith in using the bellows, impure silver would have resulted.

Here’s the bottom line: You can trust the Bible. It’s pure. There’s no errors.  It’s God’s words. 

(Thanks to Derek Prince for the insights.)

Have you blasphemed the Spirit lately?

Jesus said in Mark 3:28-29, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
Many people, including Christians, have wondered what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, and many different opinions have been given throughout church history.

It’s not…
Let me tell you what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit isn’t.
It’s not denying God. Peter, the disciple, denied Jesus and was them later reconciled back to God.  It’s not doubting. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, doubted and he was reconciled.  It’s not murder.  King David committed murder and was forgiven.  Jesus also prayed for forgiveness of the Roman soldiers who crucified him.
It’s not a sexual sin.    In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Paul lists a whole lot of sexual sins and then reminds the Christians that that is what some of them were (past tense), but now they are forgiven and part of God’s family.
It’s not suicide.  The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ death paid the price for all our sins, including sins committed against ourselves. 
It’s not an ongoing sin that you struggle to overcome. Ongoing and deliberate sin may grieve the Holy Spirit as Ephesians 4:30 indicates, but its not unforgivable.
We need to remember the great positive Jesus refers to in v28, "I tell you the truth, ALL the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them."  If we turn from sin and believe in Jesus we will be forgiven of anything and everything.

Son of Satan…

To understand blasphemy against the Holy Spirit must look at the context of Jesus words.  Jesus words where directed to the religious leaders.  And Jesus said this because, according to v30, “they were saying, ‘He has an evil spirit.’”  The religious leaders were rejecting the truth about Jesus despite of the clear evidence.   That’s what blasphemy against the Spirit is.  The religious leaders were saying, after seeing Jesus’ miracles and exorcisms, that Jesus was in fact a dark magician, a son of Satan, and casting out demons by using occultic power.  

Eternal sin

The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity.  He is God and he convicts us of sin and shows us where we’re unholy and unrighteous.  The Holy Spirit empowered the life of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us. The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible.   It’s the Spirit’s role and delight to point people to Jesus.  He never draws attention to himself, but always points people to Jesus.  When the Spirit seeks to convince you of the truth about Jesus and you reject that truth (like the religious leaders), you blaspheme and that is unforgivable.  Why is it unforgivable?  Its unforgivable because you are cutting yourself off from the very source of forgiveness.  When you are unforgiven it has eternal consequences; that’s why Jesus calls it an eternal sin (v29).

Bottomline

If you die rejecting truth about Jesus, you will be seperated from God forever in a place Jesus described as hell. You are rejecting Son of God and relying on your own goodness.  That was the commitment of the religious leaders all the way to the point of murdering Jesus.  Jesus rose from the dead three days later to prove them wrong.

Is Jesus your God? Do you worship Jesus or something else?  If not, you’re already presently guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Ps The sin is unforgivable only as long as you keep committing it.

PPs By definition, Christians cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

How big is your Bible?

How big should a Christian’s Bible be?  Good Christians should have a really big Bible so that other can clearly see it’s a Bible.  Really spiritual Christians should have a leather bound Bible with cross references.  Bible’s that contain only the New Testaments and Psalms are ok for new Christians, but you really should aim to be more godly. Super-spiritual, higher grade Christians have the ESV study Bible, with a leather cover.

This may sound silly, but often in the church we have these petty rules we follow.  If you’re not part of a church I’m sorry to say that this is sad, but true.  We have unspoken rules as to how many devotions a good Christian should have per week, how many beers (if any) a good Christian can drink at a bring ‘n braai, how many times a Sunday a good Christian gathers for corporate worship, and so the list goes on.  Unsaid rules about tattoos, dress, jeans, baseball caps, age-restricted movies and shopping on Sundays, saying grace, and so on. 

Now don’t get me wrong.  Having a Bible , regular devotions and being Christlike are good and godly things!  However, we sometimes tend to think Christianity is about obeying the rules and checking the boxes.  If we keep the rules we feel proud and if we break the rules we scold ourselves and feel guilty.  Jesus condemned the Pharisees for this kind of attitude in Mark 2:8-3:6.  Christianity for Jesus is about submitting to him as King, being forgiven of all sin, and redirecting our life towards Jesus, the only One who can give us highest joy.  We then seek to live godly lives, not to earn God’s favour, but as a result of God’s ongoing favour to us.

Dr. Howard Kelly was a renowned physician and surgeon as well as a devout Christian.  During the summer holidays while in medical school, he sold books to help with expenses.  Becoming thirsty, he stopped one day at a farm house for a glass of water.  A girl came to the door. When he asked for a glass of water, she kindly said, "I will give you a glass of milk, if you wish."  He drank the cool milk and left refreshed.

Years passed, and Dr. Kelly graduated from medical school and became the chief surgeon at John Hopkins Hospital.  A patient was admitted one day who was from the rural area and was seriously ill.  The skilled chief surgeon spared no efforts to make the patient well.   After undergoing surgery, she recovered quickly.  One day she was told by the nurse, 'Tomorrow you will go home.'   Though her joy was great, it was somewhat silenced by the thought of the long bill she must owe the hospital and surgeon.  She asked to see it, and the nurse brought it to her.   With a heavy heart, the patient began to read the different items from the top downward.  The further she read, the more depressed she became, wondering how she would ever pay the bill.  But as her eyes lowered, she saw a notation at the bottom of the page.   It read, "Paid in full with one glass of milk." It was signed, Howard A. Kelley, MD.

We owe God a debt we can never repay.  No amount of good or rule-keeping can even start to pay what we owe God. But Jesus, by his substitutional death, paid what we owe in full to God so we can be forgiven.  What drives you?  Ticking petty boxes to earn God’s favour or enjoying God’s grace, knowing the bill has been paid in FULL.