Hear the Word

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jhn 3:5-8)

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jhn 4:23)

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (Jhn 6:63)

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 ” A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. 25 ” These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.  30 “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. Jhn  14:18 – 31

But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  27 “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning  (Jhn  15:26 – 27).

It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  9 “of sin, because they do not believe in Me;  10 “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. 16 ” A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”

17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”  18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

21 “A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  22 “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you (Jhn 15: 7-22).

When they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1: 6 -8

This Man Called Jesus

Jesus was born into a very securely ordered world.  There were chief priests and scribes and Pharisees.  There were countless rules and regulations.  The Roman world was securely ordered and Rome was brutal when that order was violated.  People knew their place – like it or not.

Then along came Jesus.  He was a carpenter’s son.  He preached,

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

When he stood up to describe the kingdom, it was as if he was turning the world upside down and inside out.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

Jesus told stories about the kingdom.  A landowner hired employees for his vineyard.  He paid those who started 30 minutes before quitting time exactly the same wage as those who had worked from dawn.  How orderly is that?

In another story Jesus said that a powerful man invited his close friends for a great feast.  When they didn’t show up, he brought in the homeless, the drunks and the gang members.   Jesus said,

“The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

From the Garden to the City

The bible begins in a garden at the book of Genesis and ends in the city in the book of Revelation. The scripture is clear that “what began in a garden will one day end in a grand and glorious city.”

This city will be like no other city on our planet because it will not be made with human hands.  Rather, this will be a Heavenly city delivered down to man, by God.  Until that happens, though, we all must exist here together as we are being shaped and our world is being prepared for that urban reality.

Tithing

The tithe belongs in the local church. In return the local church will;

• Watch your kids and raise them in the way of the Lord
• Visit and pray for your parents in Home Nursing
• Pray for your hurts and help bring healing and hope
• Feed you God’s word, worship with you and release you into ministry
• Help when your marriage, teenagers, job or finances are in crisis.

Scripture presents tithing as one of the greatest spiritual battles you will ever face as a Christian AND scripture also presents tithing as baby stuff for baby Christians. Overall, I would say that tithing is like the kindergarten graduation exam. Until you pass this test, you forever remain a spiritual kindergartner.

Desperation is definitely not cool to any generation

When we use the word desperation, it carries with it the feeling of hopelessness, abandonment, and recklessness. There is a story told in Luke thus;

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them…And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-38;50 NLT

The woman in our story is certainly behaving in a reckless manner because of her desperation. She has entered the home of a Pharisee uninvited in order to be close to Jesus. Yes, she actually crashed the party. She humbled herself by washing the dirty feet of the One she believed could rescue her from her despair. Not only did she wash His feet but she kissed them and poured expensive perfume on them.

Desperation, though a common condition and a downright spiritual epidemic, is not to be normal, and it is not healthy. Desperation can be a by-product of many different circumstances. Perhaps you are hurting right now because you have lost someone you love dearly.

The good news of your desperation is that it can bring you to the very feet of Jesus who died for you. Just like the woman in the Scriptures, you too can receive salvation and peace.

Christians are not to be desperate people, for we are those who are to be built upon the solid Rock of Christ. Our lives are not built upon sinking sand; therefore, we are not those who are sinkable, unless we, like Peter, look to the waves rather than the One Who can talk to the waves and tell them what to do. We can spiritually walk on water by faith, and it is the devil who is the only one who needs to be desperate. Scripture says his time is short to wreak havoc (Revelation 12:12), but we have eternity to live with Jesus.

Desperation should not characterize our lives, but rather the peace which surpasses all understanding should guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). He alone can keep us in perfect peace, but we must believe Him that He will do that for us. Then when Satan assails our faith, we must rest in our faithful God. God is bigger than the devil, and He is never desperate. He is our shelter (Psalm 61:4) and our shield (Psalm 18:30), and it is in His shadow (Psalm 91:1) in which we rest. God’s children don’t need to be desperate because our Father never is.

 

Works of Mercy

Christian faith is a call to engage in works of peity and work of mercy. Most simply defined, “works of mercy” are “doing good.”

John Wesley described the works of mercy in on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount this way:

And, First, with regard to works of mercy. “Take heed,” saith he,”that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” “That ye do not your alms:” — Although this only is named, yet is every work of charity included, every thing which we give, or speak, or do, whereby our neighbour may be profited; whereby another man may receive any advantage, either in his body or soul. The feeding the hungry, the clothing the naked, the entertaining or assisting the stranger, the visiting those that are sick or in prison, the comforting the afflicted, the instructing the ignorant, the reproving the wicked, the exhorting and encouraging the well-doer; and if there be any other work of mercy, it is equally included in this direction.

We must be Christians in both word and deed, which is the only way to express the love of God. Christians must grow in God’s grace, which first prepares us for belief, then accepts us when we respond to God in faith, and sustains us as we do good works and participate in God’s mission.

We can practice works of mercy by:

• Living modestly and giving all we could to help those in need
• Visiting people in prison and providing spiritual guidance, food, and clothing to them
• Speaking out against all forms of abuse.
• Founding schools for education is the main way the poor escape poverty.
• Publishing books, pamphlets, and magazines for the education and spiritual edification of people.
• Teaching  and writing about good health practices and even dispensing medicine when needed.

As Wesley noted there is no without social holiness.

Resurrection

In Corinthians Paul Writes:

Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved….. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared….Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that three is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Corin. 15:1, 3-5, 12-14)

Some at Corinth were denying the resurrection. What proof do they have that Jesus truly arose from the dead and appeared to his first followers? In response, Paul says that they know that Christ is raised because that’s what Paul preached to them. Is that all?

Listen to Paul’s logic, “I have preached to you that Christ is raised from the dead. Now if I preached that how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?”

Paul goes on to say, in effect,

“Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised and that would mean that, when I preached, I lied and that your faith is in vain. But I did tell the truth in my preaching and just to prove it, I’m going to preach it to you again. Christ has been raised from the dead.'” There.

Paul says:

If there is no resurrection of the dead…
…then Christ has not been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised…
…then our preaching was a lie
And if our preaching was a lie…
…then your faith is futile.

These Corinthians seem to also had problems with love (I Corinthians 13), with getting along with each other in the church, but they had faith — spoke in tongues and worried about eating meat offered to idols.

Paul in his writing implies that the Corinthians were so full of faith, so dazzled by the resurrection that, when he preached to them, he was forced to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified in an attempt to get them back down to earth for a few moments.

However, in this subject he reverses the order and says:

Because your faith is not futile,
Our preaching was not a lie,
Christ has been raised,
There is resurrection of the dead.

“Because your faith is not futile….There is resurrection of the dead.” It’s an important truth. Easter begins to dawn, not in the preacher’s assembling alleged “evidence” from history. The dry reconstruction of historians will not get us to resurrection. Easter begins in the recognition that our faith is not futile, in our present experience of the Risen Christ roaming among us.

It is the testimony, not just of preachers like me, but of countless believers like you, that is the evidence. When bread and wine touch your lips and you see, feel the real presence. When you thought your heart would break in disappointment and pain, but it didn’t because He was standing beside you in the dark. When you didn’t know what to say and there were just the right words, words not of your own devising, being spoken by you. When you dragged into the church, cold at heart, skeptical, and distant, yet at the hymns, your spirit rose to greet His, your faith is not in vain.