John 3:16-17:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
If you have ever been out on the ocean, maybe you have thought about how vulnerable you are out there. All that water — and no land in sight!
“Man overboard!” is not a cry to be taken lightly. A man left on his own, swimming in the middle of the ocean has absolutely no chance to survive. If he doesn’t exhaust himself from treading water, there are a host of other reasons he will not survive — from hypothermia to becoming dinner for a large sea creature.
A man overboard cannot save himself no matter how good a swimmer he might be. How he came to be overboard is of no real concern — the real concern is that he is where he is!
His only hope lies with those left on the boat! His salvation depends on someone throwing him a lifeline to hang on to and be pulled back on board. Once the rope is thrown — he has to hold on for all he is worth!
There are some among us who read John 3:16, and see it as a loophole — as if God inserted an alternative for those who obey Him to avoid suffering consequences: if you believe, you live — if you don’t, you perish.
That truly isn’t the situation at all! God isn’t the one condemning us — we have condemned ourselves!
A person who finds himself in this world without God and drowning in a life of sin, is exactly like the man who has fallen overboard! He is in a place where he cannot save himself, no matter how hard he tries. His hope lies somewhere outside himself.
Read John 3:16 closer. What you will see is God recognizing that we are hopelessly drowning in sin — and He is arranging a lifeline for us! This isn’t God simply encouraging us to have faith in Him, He has arranged this lifeline because — He loves us!
Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Think you can save yourself from sin? You will eventually exhaust yourself and sink to the bottom of the hopeless abyss. Without God, we have no hope.
Yes, God wants us to have faith in Him, but that faith is not being forced on us at the risk of punishment — we are lost already! God is throwing us this rope in hopes that before we are lost forever, we will grab on and let Him pull us back to safety!
Don’t be confused, this is not just a light-hearted belief in God… This is an active, soul-rending, life-changing belief. If it were anything less, then even the demons would be saved.
James 2:19: You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.
God has done all He can by casting out the lifeline in the form of His Son. Have you taken grasp of it?
Galatians 3:26-27: So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
And — if you have grasped onto Jesus, and have been pulled to safety, are you diligently watching the waves for others sinking souls you can throw a lifeline to?
1 Peter 4:10: Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
John 2:16 - Do You Worship in a Market Place?
John 2:16:
To those who sold doves, he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
Can you imagine the sounds and smells that were in the temple that day? When you gather a bunch of people in a tight space and bring in livestock and other commodity trading, you have the makings of a bazaar or farmer’s market.
The temple was a glorious place — a place where the very surroundings gave evidence of God’s majesty. In fact, even though they shouldn't have, many Jews of that day swore by the gold of the temple!
But, as it was, a visitor to the temple was met with a cacophony of noise, smells and — mixed messages! Was the house of God a place of worship, or a place of business?
Jesus’ actions showed the right answer!
Today, we have no temple, but we do need to be cautious about how we conduct ourselves. One of the most frequent complaints I hear about “organized religion” is that “they always want my money!”
If you tune into the “television evangelists,” it is truly only minutes into the programs before there is some kind of appeal for funds. Some appeals seem reasonable, and some border on the ridiculous — but all muddy up any message being delivered. It is difficult to refute the charge against “organized religion!”
The spreading of the gospel has some financial costs. Who should bear those costs?
Some have turned to raising the funds from those they reach out to — leading to the practice of “creative marketing” — the more people reached out to, the more potential income. In the short term this is great for the fund raisers, but in the long term this is devastating to those who fall victim to the charlatans — causing many to doubt God and distrust any who claim to follow Him.
Paul understood the problem. Causing those “taught” to bear the burdens of the “teacher” can become a distraction, or a blockade in the spreading of the Gospel. Even though Paul had the right to “earn a living” from teaching the Gospel, he had strong feelings about exercising that right.
1 Corinthians 9:18: What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.
2 Corinthians 2:17: Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
2 Corinthians 6:3: We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.
In gathering funds for the spreading of the gospel, let us not turn the church into a market place — selling trinkets, books and “religious” items to a “captured” audience, making the church look like a “money hungry” machine. We have no biblical support for holding such raffles, car washes or bake sales — even asking those outside the church for support.
The burden of spreading the gospel should and does lie squarely on the shoulders of the church. The early church — the church we read of in the New Testament — the church Jesus died for — gathered its support from among itself. Here is what the apostle Paul told the churches in Galatia to do . . .
1 Corinthians 16:2: On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come, no collections will have to be made.
To gather funds any other way is to do so beyond Scriptural example, precedent, directive or command — and that is always a dangerous way to conduct ourselves.
To those who sold doves, he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
Can you imagine the sounds and smells that were in the temple that day? When you gather a bunch of people in a tight space and bring in livestock and other commodity trading, you have the makings of a bazaar or farmer’s market.
The temple was a glorious place — a place where the very surroundings gave evidence of God’s majesty. In fact, even though they shouldn't have, many Jews of that day swore by the gold of the temple!
But, as it was, a visitor to the temple was met with a cacophony of noise, smells and — mixed messages! Was the house of God a place of worship, or a place of business?
Jesus’ actions showed the right answer!
Today, we have no temple, but we do need to be cautious about how we conduct ourselves. One of the most frequent complaints I hear about “organized religion” is that “they always want my money!”
If you tune into the “television evangelists,” it is truly only minutes into the programs before there is some kind of appeal for funds. Some appeals seem reasonable, and some border on the ridiculous — but all muddy up any message being delivered. It is difficult to refute the charge against “organized religion!”
The spreading of the gospel has some financial costs. Who should bear those costs?
Some have turned to raising the funds from those they reach out to — leading to the practice of “creative marketing” — the more people reached out to, the more potential income. In the short term this is great for the fund raisers, but in the long term this is devastating to those who fall victim to the charlatans — causing many to doubt God and distrust any who claim to follow Him.
Paul understood the problem. Causing those “taught” to bear the burdens of the “teacher” can become a distraction, or a blockade in the spreading of the Gospel. Even though Paul had the right to “earn a living” from teaching the Gospel, he had strong feelings about exercising that right.
1 Corinthians 9:18: What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.
2 Corinthians 2:17: Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
2 Corinthians 6:3: We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.
In gathering funds for the spreading of the gospel, let us not turn the church into a market place — selling trinkets, books and “religious” items to a “captured” audience, making the church look like a “money hungry” machine. We have no biblical support for holding such raffles, car washes or bake sales — even asking those outside the church for support.
The burden of spreading the gospel should and does lie squarely on the shoulders of the church. The early church — the church we read of in the New Testament — the church Jesus died for — gathered its support from among itself. Here is what the apostle Paul told the churches in Galatia to do . . .
1 Corinthians 16:2: On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come, no collections will have to be made.
To gather funds any other way is to do so beyond Scriptural example, precedent, directive or command — and that is always a dangerous way to conduct ourselves.
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