Is It I Lord?

It appears to be human nature that when we are a part of something for a long time we become complacent. We think we know everything there is to know about it. We become proud and we lose sight of the possibility of failure. Certainly time and experience give us reason to be confident in our own abilities. Sometimes doing a job and doing it well requires we carry ourselves with confidence. But the life of a Christian should not be compared with the ways of the world.

Listening to a sermon last night on a study of communion and what we commonly call the Last Supper, I caught something in God’s Word, that though I’ve read and heard many times over, brought a fresh insight into my mind. Listen to the story.

Matthew 26:20-22
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.  And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

Jesus has just announced that someone in His closest collection of friends is about to betray Him. As these twelve men hear this each and every one of them suddenly lose the festive mood of the Passover Meal and become filled with sorrow. Being upset over this terrible prediction of treason is a normal reaction. But then did you catch what happened? They “began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

“Is it I Lord?” Why would each and every one of these twelve men ask that question? Hadn’t they faithfully followed Jesus for some three years or so? We can understand why Judas would feel guilty; he WAS about to betray Jesus. But what led the other eleven to question their own loyalty now?

God does nothing out of randomness and this story is not just there for us to look at in wonder at the weakness of the disciples. The greater question we must ask of ourselves is this; is it I Lord Jesus? Am I going to spend years of my life serving God and believing in Jesus only to in the end to betray Him in some form of Christian treason?

The simple answer from scripture is no. The reason we won’t fall completely into rejection of Jesus is that we aren’t His by our own efforts. We are His because God has chosen us. Far too many Christians refuse to accept the doctrine of election. But it is a crucial doctrine that when properly understood gives us assurance of salvation. My point here is not to teach the doctrine of election, you must read God’s Word and let the Holy Spirit lead you to the truth. But it is important to know that we need to stop placing faith in self and only place it in Christ. Most of us have sang hymns such as In Christ Alone, yet we live out our lives in a state of sorrow because we keep trying to do all this in our own power. Or we live our lives with our heads held up way too high thinking we have got this Christian thing down.

The truth is and the Bible is clear on this; we are going to fall and stumble. There are clear Biblical warnings.

2 Peter 3:17
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness…

The Bible is also replete with the stories of men who did stumble and fall and often after God had used them in mighty ways. There is no greater example than Peter, who just hours after insisting to Jesus that he would go to the bitter end for Him denied he even knew the man, much less was he willing to stand up and die for Him.

The lesson is a simple one. We need to humble ourselves before Almighty God and confess our weaknesses. We need to acknowledge our own sinfulness. One of the best ways to do this is to read God’s Word continually from beginning to end. It has been rightly said that the Bible is like a mirror; it shows us who we are. But only if we look into it deeply can it reveal the true self, because a superficial glance does not show the wrinkles and the scars.

We must beware of pride.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

The truth is this; if we are Christ’s then we will persevere.

John 6:37-39
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

But this does not mean we cannot slip off the path and fall to temptation.

I don’t know what was going on in each of the minds of the eleven disciples that night. Maybe they each had some secret sin they were holding on to. Most of us do.

Maybe simply being in the presence of Jesus made them aware of their own humanness and they realized how prideful they had become. Maybe they were remembering the arguments over which of them was the greatest. How often do we look down on someone in the pew next to us?

What matters to us is that we humble ourselves before Almighty God and ask Him to be the power that saves us and the power that sustain us. He is.  Let Him take control. Put your faith only in Him. In Christ alone my hope is found. How about you?

Why We Still Need The Law

Far too many Christians fail to understand that God's law still matters. Paul explains the proper use of the law in 1 Timothy 1:8-11 - "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted."

So who is the law not for? A righteous person. And who are the righteous? Well guess what? None of us. All of us are sinners

Romans 3:10

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one.

There was one was. Jesus. Until we look like Him in every way we need the law. And its purpose? To reveal our sinfulness. Far too many Christians are saved and they have no idea what they are even saved from.

This is why we must not only preach the Gospel by using the law to reveal the need for Christ to the unsaved, we must read God's Word constantly so they we understand our daily need for God's grace and through it we are humbled as we see that we are not of ourselves righteous. We must be covered by the Blood of Christ to even be able to approach our Holy God.

Even Paul, the great Apostle Paul, used by God to write much of the New Testament, was a sinner. read his own description of himself.

1 Timothy 1:15

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.

Paul uses the language here that declares He is STILL a sinner and needs Jesus.

The good news? Jesus came into the world to save sinners. But we must know we need Him to save us. That is what the law is for.

Death – Fear it or Rejoice In it?

No one likes to talk about death. Most of our lives are spent trying to avoid it and certainly we must hold life up as something precious.  But if we call ourselves Christians then death must not be something we fear. If our loved ones are Christians then we must not cling to them when death becomes imminent in their lives for the Bible is clear; we are not citizens of this earth, we are aliens here and are just passing through. Philippians 3:20-21 reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

As I was studying in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 I found that in the second half of this chapter Paul has given us what we need to take comfort in the fact that Jesus is coming back for us. Paul has given us five basic facts in which we can take comfort and encouragement in, even when it comes to death.

Fact number one is that we have not been left uniformed about these things. We have God’s truth about death. Paul addresses this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 saying, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” Paul as an apostle from Jesus has been sent to be sure we are not uninformed about death. More often than not fear derives from not knowing, from not sure about how a certain situation will turn out. Christians have enough knowledge of death to live life without fearing it and even to have hope in it. That fact puts us light years ahead of the rest of the world.

The second fact Paul gives us here is the reason we can have hope even in death; Jesus is coming back for us.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For those who believe that Jesus died and rose again can know that the return of Jesus is a fact. Jesus is coming back for us and not only is He coming back for us; He is bringing those who already have died with Him to get us. To fully understand the fact as Paul gives us here, we must understand the term “fallen asleep.” Notice that Jesus is bringing back those who have fallen asleep. That means when they died they did not stay here in the ground. This means there is no such thing as soul sleep. It is the body that went to sleep and lies in the ground as a seed. James 2:26 tells us that “as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” But our spirit goes immediately to be with Jesus as we read of in 2 Corinthians 5:8 which tells us “…we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” So Christians can have a sure hope in death and a sure hope in life.

But what about our bodies? Paul’s third fact here explains how that will work.

1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

The dead in Christ will rise first. As I alluded to above, the body after death becomes like a seed as it returns to the earth. Genesis 3:19 spoke of this saying “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” And don’t let someone freak you out because your loved one was cremated and not buried. God created us and He can raise us in our resurrected body regardless of what happened to our bodies in death. And God is not going to put your old pieces back together again as if you were Humpty Dumpty. (By the way all the King’s horses and all the King’s men tried that and it didn’t work. God could do so if He wanted however.) No, God will out of the seed of your dead body, raise you to a new resurrection body.

1 Corinthians 15:35-36
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”  You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

The new body will not be like the old.

1 Corinthians 15:48-49
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Is that awesome or what? Our new body will be free of the old flesh and we shall be like Christ.

The fourth fact Paul gives us is that those Christians who have not yet perished at the return of Christ will not face death but will be caught up in the air.

1 Thessalonians 4:17
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…

We will be reunited. Reunited with Jesus and reunited with all those who preceded us in death. Though the word rapture is not used here, the Greek word used means to snatch up or to seize and take by force. Our word rapture derives form this word. It means we will be plucked from this world. Imagine the confusion that will reign when in the twinkling of the eye the masses of believers are suddenly just gone? But as Christians we have the assurance we will not face that.

Paul’s final fact given in this section is that Christians will be with our Lord forever. Read the final words of chapter four.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

We will always be with the Lord Jesus. Imagine that. Our battles will be over. Sin will no longer seek to control us and lead us away from God. Our worship of Him will be perfected. There will be no more sickness. No more death and no more need for hospitals. We will have eternal bodies that are completely void of pain and our minds will be healed of all the emotional garbage that messes up our relationships.

Death? Be not afraid.

2 Timothy 1:10
And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Encourage each other with these words. Share the Gospel with those who do not have the same hope we have.

Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

Therefore encourage each other with these words.

The Amazing Grace of God

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound”, who of us are not familiar with those words? It’s arguably the most well known Christian hymn and for good reason. Last night a Christian sister posted a story about it on my Facebook page. Tuesday nights at our church is the night our Celebrate Recovery group meets and for those unfamiliar with CR it is the Christian equivalent of things like Alcoholics Anonymous except its doors are open to anyone who is seeking to recover from all the various things that weigh us down in life. Last night at our church friends and family of a dear Christian sister who passed away from cancer were gathering in a memorial service in her honor. My friend told me that as the CR group was singing the hymn Amazing Grace she had to step out for a moment. As she passed by the memorial service being held in the sanctuary she heard them singing Amazing Grace as well, as if the two groups had planned to sing in unison. They had not.

You see there are no accidents. Things are not spinning out of control on this earth in spite of the events that lead us to feel so. The Bible is clear; God is sovereign. He has not abandoned us to walk out the days of our lives in fear or in worry. In Acts 17:26 we read that God has determined our appointed places and times. That those two groups were both singing in unison was no coincidence last night. That my friend posted to me that this occurred has a purpose. That the song was Amazing Grace is by design: God’s design.

Often we when we think of the amazing grace of God we stop short at our salvation. And yes, it is amazing that God would show us that grace, the grace of forgiveness of our sins as He provided through His one and only son, Jesus, who paid the penalty we deserve. But God’s grace, His amazing grace, does so much more than give us the hope of eternal life. His grace allows us to live the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10.

Last night at that Celebrate Recovery meeting were people from all walks of life, each with different stories. Some suffer from addictions to drugs and alcohol; addictions that probably should have killed them by now. Addictions that brought pain and suffering to not only themselves, but also to their loved ones. These addictions haunt them everyday as they call out their name and try to draw them back to the darkness they’ve tried so hard to escape. But God’s amazing grace gives them the strength to say no. Some were there because someone in their own life abused them. It doesn’t matter if the abuse is physical, sexual, or even emotional. The scars of those wounds run deep and left untreated they bring bitterness, shame, and guilt; even when it was the actions of someone else. It is God’s amazing grace that has given them the strength to go on and to not only understand it wasn’t even their fault, but God’s amazing grace has allowed them to forgive those who hurt them. There were probably some at that meeting who were the abusers. They also live in a world of sorrow and guilt and shame. Yet God’s amazing grace has allowed them to BE forgiven and to find a restored life.

Then just in the other room were people gathered who mourned. Some maybe felt fear, fear of what the future holds now that their mother is gone. It’s easy to feel guilt when losing a loved one as you ponder the mistakes of the past and wonder if they knew you loved them. But God’s amazing grace also provides the comfort to move forward and to learn from the past without letting it consume you. Other’s in that room may have simply been filled with sorrow. Yet because they can sing of God’s amazing grace they remember that as Christians we do not mourn as the world does. No, because of God’s amazing grace they rejoice in the truth that our beloved sister is in in the arms of Jesus and shall never again know pain or sorrow.

God’s grace is amazing. Whatever you face if you will turn to God and let Him into your life, His amazing grace will empower you to conquer the evils of the day and to bear up under the weight of the pain of life. Jesus has promised to never leave us. He even sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us, to teach us, and to comfort us. This is God’s amazing grace.

You see God’s amazing grace is sufficient to provide all we need in this life and in the eternal one. Nowhere does the Bible say we won’t face troubles. Because we live in a broken world in which each and every one of us is a sinner, there will be sickness, death, and all other types of difficulty to face until Jesus returns. But God has not deserted us. The Apostle Paul prayed three times to have the thorn in his side removed. But listen to the answer to his prayer from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

God’s grace is amazing. God’s grace is sufficient. God’s grace is what gives us the strength to go on even in our weakness. Amazing. Whatever you face, wherever you are today, God wants to give you His grace, His amazing grace.

Won’t you sing of it now?

Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come,
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.