advent

 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light

they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,

upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,

to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice

from henceforth even for ever.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9_2-7

Well, we have reached yet another Advent season. Will we have some snow on Christmas? I don't recall that many white Christmases since we moved here in 2021. Anyway, I sure hope we do get some. And then let it be gone until next Christmas! It probably doesn't work that way, though. 

What is advent really about? Is it not the story of Light breaking into the darkness? Of Jesus John writes:

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

The advent story is, of course, a part of the overall story of the Bible. It is a tragic story we know all too well. The first day, God says, "Let there be Light" and there was light. On the seventh day, God saw all that He had made, and said it was "very good". The garden in which our parents Adam and Eve were placed was a utopia that was perfect in every way. In the midst of the garden stood the Tree of Life, from which we were free to eat and live forever. However, perhaps long before Adam and Eve were formed, but after God had said, "Let there be Light", a darkness formed in Heaven. Some angel named Lucifer decided he would be God, and was cast out of heaven to the earth. There he sees the innocent couple in the garden and begins to challenge them. "Did God really say?", and invites them to forsake the tree of life and eat of the knowledge of good and evil. They did so, and the darkness was poured out on the earth. At least for a time, the people did indeed walk in darkness. All hope seemed lost. Has not Lucifer won again? 

Surprise, devil! God is not finished with man yet. The LORD prophesied that a Descendant of Eve would one day overcome the power of the evil one. Light indeed has come, and we have beheld His glory, "full of grace AND truth". Darkness, when exposed to light, ALWAYS runs away. The same Light that created the world in the first place is now shining again, illuminating the world, exposing our corruption. In Jesus was Life, and that Life was the Light of men. 

Brothers and sisters, let us always keep this in mind: The present darkness we experience, even at this festive season of Advent, is not forever. Paul writes to the Corinthian Church:

The Scriptures say, “God commanded light to shine in the dark.” Now God is shining in our hearts to let you know that his glory is seen in Jesus Christ.

7We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. 8We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. 9In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again. 1

Our witness is the Light that is in us. We do not interpret our current unpleasant situation as a discouragement. Rather, we can see that Light is indeed breaking out. No one will need to be confused: When we praise God out of the midst of the darkness of this world, they will know for sure that this power is of God, not of us. By revelation, we know that:

We (need) never give up. Our bodies are gradually dying, but we ourselves are being made stronger each day. 17These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing. 18Things that are seen don't last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. This is why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen.

Holiness

 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Heb 12:14

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. I Peter 1:15-16

I suppose there would be no easier way for a pastor to offend his congregation than to preach on holiness. The standard is undisputed: As God is holy, so must we be. We know this, and I think it causes great fear, as we just don't feel very holy. As our preacher shared today, this conundrum is usually dealt with in one of two ways. We either are so overwhelmed by our besetting sins that we simply give up. If not, we try our best not to sin, but the more we try, the more sins pop up. It's like playing Whack-a-Mole. A real walk of victory over sins seems unattainable and etherial. Maybe once we walk on the golden streets of Heaven can we be free of sin, but not here on earth. But is this what the Bible teaches?

No, the passages above are calling for holiness. As nothing in our personal experience may suggest that we can indeed walk blameless here on earth, I believe our first response to a call for holiness is fear: We just don't think it is possible, that somehow God has laid a burden on us that we simply cannot bear. Thus, we interpret the above passages with unenlightened hearts, and draw the conclusion that God is not really requiring a holy walk from us. Somehow we must come up with an interpretation that flies in the face of His clear commands. " Be as holy as you can be", give it the college try. You won't get there, but strive for holiness anyway. 

Saints, no such interpretation is possible. But the Bible does not leave us to our own resources here. No, the very holiness God requires of us is already ours. We may not see this naturally but He bids us to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind". Indeed, by setting our minds on heavenly things, practical holiness is possible. We must not try to be as holy as possible. We must not bow down to besetting sins that seem to overwhelm us. The key is believing what the Word says, and trusting God to impute His very character into us. We cease striving and acknowledge He is God, Psalm 46:10. But what does it mean to believe?

I once heard a story about an acrobat named the Great Blondin. Ever the promoter, he cast a cable across the mouth of the Niagara River, in front of the famous falls. He called a crowd together and asked them if they thought he could cross the river while blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow. "Yes, yes, we believe you can do this", they roared. Ok, then he says, "who is going to get in"? Therein, my friends is true faith. We TRUST the God who said He can preserve us blameless before Him in love. We don't know how. By faith, we commit that holy life to the One who, in us, is perfectly holy, and powerful. Holiness can be found IN us, but never OF us. 

We can have no relationship with a holy God if we ourselves are not holy. Not only is holiness possible, it is also essential. Just as we trusted Christ for justification, we must also trust Him for sanctification. He invites us to turn to Him and be saved. 

"Lord Jesus, I want to be found in you, having not a righteousness that is of the flesh, for indeed all that I can do in regard to a holy life is completely worthless. Rather, may I stand holy before you on the basis of my complete trust in your work on the Holy Cross. I go forth knowing that the accuser of the brethren will be challenging me. May thy Spirit that is in me rebuke him. Just as I trust you to be my salvation from the penalty of my sins, I am trusting you to be my salvation from the presence of sins in my mortal body. I know that you are able to keep me from falling, and to present me blameless before the Father. Thank you Lord Jesus. You are my life. I love you."

Who is a martyr?

 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. Acts 22:20

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32

Earlier this month we were met with the news that our brother Charlie Kirk had been shot. We were stunned. Why would someone so hate him as to take away his life? So we began to call him a martyr, and correctly so. But just what is a martyr? What does the Bible say about this?

The Greek word for martyr simply means "Witness". Only a few times in the Bible is it translated "Martyr", in the sense of one who willingly gives up his life for the sake of Christ. Certainly though Stephen was one of the first such men to die for Christ, all the apostles except John also did so. And through out two millennia, countless others have also been called to follow in their footsteps. And they, for sure, were effective witnesses. Tertullian, writing  about 197 AD, said that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church". And he was correct, for the more the Romans persecuted the church, the faster it grew. By the time of Constantine, some 10 percent of the denizens of the Roman Empire were believers, such was the stunning growth of the church in some 300 years. So many have indeed died, and continue to die, for the sake of Christ. But are they meant to be exceptional? 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die". Indeed, Jesus tells us that "if any man would come after Him, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me". So brothers and sisters, we are ALL called to die, to give up the right to ourselves, and exalt Him. We will not, however, all end our life on earth as Martyrs, be we are ALL called to be witnesses. But just what does this mean?

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian church, writes that as they take communion, they are proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes. The key to this is the denial of self. This does NOT mean making our best effort to be as good of a Christian as we can be. No, as Paul writes in Romans seven, even he found that the very things he would do, he could not do, and the things he would not do, he very much did. In the end he asks, "Who shall save me from this body of death? But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Just as Christ gave himself up and was willing to say, "Not my will but thine", and overcame death, and was raised up triumphantly to a new life", so with His disciples. The key to being a witness is simply to trust the presence of Christ in us that whenever we are put to the test, His life is what the world sees, not our natural selves. This is self denial, refusing to trust our natural ways, but drawing on His life in us. As Peter writes to us, "His Devine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our (intimate) knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness". We have no goodness of our own, but "Christ in us is the hope of glory". 

We will not all take a bullet for Christ like our brother Kirk, but I imagine that he walked in such a way that dying like this would only have been a mere extension of the way he lived. That is, Charley lived as a martyr long before he died as a martyr. He listened to others. He did not mock or belittle anyone who had another opinion. He honored them, building a bridge of trust. He knew that it was not about him, but about the Person of Christ who lived in him. And at a young age, the Lord, in his sovereignty, called Charley home. So though we may not necessarily give up our physical lives for the Lord, we can all live as martyrs, our denial of our right to ourselves being a witness to the world that we are strangers just passing through, citizens of another Kingdom that has not yet fully manifested, but is surely coming. When the world curses us, Christ in us returns a blessing. When the world hates us, Christ in us loves them back. So great is His love in us, that we give up ourselves for others, as that is what Christ, in us, is doing. 

So let us turn our hearts to see Him. As Paul writes, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the LORD, are changed into the same image from glory to glory". The more we behold Him, the more His life is preeminent in our walk, and the more the world sees Him in us. All glory to the Lamb of God!

Be ye filled

 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Eph 5:19-20

What is this, to be "filled with the Spirit"? In one sense, EVERY believer, from their spiritual birth, is filled with the Holy Spirit. Through the ministry of the Spirit, we hear the voice of our LORD. When our faith is challenged, by the power of the indwelling Spirit, we can defeat our enemy. When we walk in the Spirit, the fruit of our lives is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance, Galatians 5:22. The very character of our Lord Jesus is found in us by this indwelling Spirit. But is this what Paul means when he invites us to be "filled with the Spirit"? 

Now on the day of Pentecost, they were all together in one place, and the power of the Holy Spirit was upon them. They began to speak in human languages that they had not learned. So great was this power, that observers thought them to be drunk. Peter, who some 50 days earlier had denied he even knew Jesus, now stands up and gives the church's very first sermon, and 3000 souls were saved. By the power of the Spirit, all sorts of miracles followed the apostles around. Of this power, Paul writes that He gives to each as He chooses. So perhaps this is not it either, as Paul could hardly command the saints do something that is beyond their control. Writes Isaiah:

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,

to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,

the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

that they might be called trees of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified

Here it is, saints: I believe that being filled with the Spirit is choosing to praise when nothing is going right, and by doing so, actively asking the LORD to fight this battle for you. We "enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His Courts with praise" Psalm 100:4. The enemy cannot comprehend this. He is always thrown into confusion when God's saints praise Him, even though it appears they have no hope. Being filled with the Spirit is simply entering into the praise of the one who has saved us even though the storm is raging outside. May we so be found before Him!

Wheelbarrow Faith

 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

There is an old story, perhaps apocryphal, about a stunt man named The Great Blondin. As the tale goes, he gathered a crowd at one side of the Niagara Falls. He had stretched a cable across the mouth of the Falls. Ever the promoter, he asked the crowd if they thought he could walk across the falls on that cable. "Yes, yes, they replied". OK, how about if I do it blindfolded? "Go for it, Blondin". Well, how about if I am blindfolded, and pushing a wheelbarrow? By now the crowd was in a frenzy, "Yes, yes, we believe!". You do? Well, who is going to get in? Silence. No one believed enough to trust him with their life. 

So it is with our life in Christ, saints. We say we believe in His providence. We tell Him that we trust Him with our very lives. But do we, really? When push comes to shove, do we complain while we fall down, or do we praise Him while standing up in faith? Got to love old St. Peter. The winds and waves are buttressing his little boat. Christ, apparently, is elsewhere. But then he looks out onto the waters, and sees Him walking towards him on the sea. Peter can't believe his eyes. "Master, if this is really you, bid me come to you walking on the waters". "Come, Peter". And he does! As long as Peter is looking at our Lord, he also is walking on the water. Of course, the storm is still raging, and before long, he casts his eyes on the turbulence. And he begins to sink. He again calls on Jesus, and is immediately saved. 

What can we learn from this pericope? Surrounded by hostile armies, with no hope whatsoever of being saved, Hezekiah prayed, "we don't know what to do, so we are casting our eyes upon you". And indeed the LORD responded, "This is not your fight". He puts out the praise team in front of the army, and the LORD casts the enemy into confusion. 

We all face trials in our walk with the LORD. I recall a time in my life that it all seemed to be crashing down around me, with no hope of a reprieve. The enemy had cast us into the deep abyss and we were struggling to even live another day. But by God's grace, I was able to remember Jeremiah's testimony in Lamentations 3:21-23. His mercies are new every morning. Like Hezekiah, I called forth the praise team. Out on a walk by the Spokane River, we looked up, and there was a huge cross in the sky! The LORD was telling us, "I've got this one. It's not your fight, but mine". Indeed, He stretched out His hand, and lifted us out of the mire. The victory was assured once we got in the wheelbarrow. 

Our trials are NOT pleasant, saints. In no way did the pain of our trial ease when we cast ourselves on Him. The waters were still roiled. The waves were still crashing down. But we had placed our trust in Him, looking not to our adversity, but to our Deliverer. This is the power that breaks down strongholds of unbelief: Praising the LORD in the midst of the storm. Amen. 

Men and Women who give

 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Our theme for this month is "Men and Women who Give", but I might put it another way, "Men and Women who Invest". Jesus taught us a lot about stewardship of the resources He has entrusted to us. He tells us to "store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven". Also, He promised that whatever we give up for the sake of the Kingdom will be returned to us up to a hundred fold. How many of us would like to make an investment in the stock market that would pay off like that? The bank herein invested in is no earthly institution, but rather the first bank of Heaven. 

Sowing and reaping is a common theme in Jesus' teachings. To be sure, some have taken His counsel on giving, and have made it into a marketplace. Phrases like "seed faith" or "mustard seed" have been used to encourage giving to some ministers. The principle, though, is not wrong: Investing in the Kingdom DOES pay off - just not here on Earth, necessarily. It's not the teaching that is wrong, but the hearers. They are may be thinking of earthly rewards. Yet Paul says that what we give must be given without thought to any reward. 

Someone said if you want to know what a man really believes, ask his accountant, who knows very well how he is spending his resources. Yet I would not limit this principle only to finances, but all of our daily lives. Are our hearts focused on the things of this world, or do we see ourselves as "strangers and aliens" as regarding them? What attraction is there for us in the "lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life"? As the song says, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will go strangely dim, in the light of His glorious grace". 

So in conclusion, we give generously, not expecting any return. We do this not only with money, but our time as well. So focused on the Kingdom are we to be that we literally don't pay attention to our gift, our left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Perhaps it will come back to us to enable investing again in the Kingdom. Perhaps we won't see the reward until we reach the Judgment Seat of Christ. It does not matter. Our eyes are focused on that Heavenly City. This is our permanent home. 

 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. I John 4:6

Those who do not know Him cannot possibly understand the path the saint walks on. We are on a road that leads home, Phillipians 3:20. They are already home in this world. We face many trials and tests in this world, but we patiently endure, knowing that they are only temporary, and are preparing us for an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison, II Corinthians 4:16-18. They also have trials, but for those who do not know Him, there is no hope beyond this world. 

This results at least in misunderstanding, and, in many cases, violent confrontation. Why is there such offense? I suggest that our very presence in this world reminds them of their future. This is why the enemies in the spiritual realm persecute us. They also know that their future is bleak. The Light that is in us scatters the darkness. So they hide. Or strike back at us. We must be aware of the battle going on around us.