“Can someone claim to be a Christian, not bear fruit, and actually be a Christian?”

The response basically boiled down to:

“If an apple tree doesn’t bear apples, does that mean it’s not an apple tree? Of course not! It may not be a very good apple tree, but it’s still an apple tree.”

I had been taking notes that night and even as the response was said, I already was writing down scripture references. Unfortunately, the references that I found (and others since then) don’t line up with the response that was given. Basically, the response said, “You can be soundly saved by Jesus and not show any evidence (fruit) of this act happening”. But, is this true? Can someone be saved and not bear fruit to show this salvation has taken place? I’m going to lay out the scriptures that I’ve found over the last week and present them in context and as clearly and unbiased as I can. I do so for a couple reasons. One, I do so in order to clarify things in my own mind as far as what I believe and whether or not it lines up in scripture. Two, I do so in order to bring this to the attention of others so that if they’ve had this question it may help them see what the scriptures say.

Matthew 3:5-10

Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “

This passage shows John the Baptist baptizing people in the Jordan River. As people from all over were coming to him to be Baptized, John sees many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to get baptized. When he sees them, he wastes no time at all. Look at what he says to them:

“You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “

He called the Pharisees, the religious leaders of their day, a brood of vipers. They were the men who knew the Law. They were the ones that memorized the Penteteuch. They followed the 613 laws to the letter (in their own mind anyway). They were the pious examples that all of Israel were to look up to, and John called them vipers. But, he wasn’t finished. He then called on them to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”. He cuts right to the heart of the matter and tells them that their genealogies will not matter. Then, John says that the axe is already at the root of the trees and every tree that doesn’t bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.

Matthew 7:15-23

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.“So then, you will know them by their fruits.“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Here, Jesus is speaking on the Mount of Olives. He is finishing up His Sermon on the Mount. He has spent much of it explaining to His disciples (and the others that had gathered) that they shouldn’t be like the Pharisees. They should act like the Pharisees, they shouldn’t judge like the Pharisees, they shouldn’t desire attention or fame like the Pharisees. He then warns them about false prophets. He tells them that they will come in sheep’s clothing but will be ravenous wolves. This doesn’t mean that they will be sheep, but that they will present themselves as shepherds. But, Jesus says that we will know them by their fruits. It is the fruit of these “shepherds” that allows us to know whether or not they are true shepherds. Jesus echoes what John told the Pharisees and says that any tree that does NOT bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. Again we see that it is the bearing of good fruit that allows us to identify the “tree”.

Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43

Here is the parable of the wheat and tares (emphasis mine):

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.“But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.“But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.“The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’“And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’“But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”

Since Jesus Himself explained this parable, here is the explanation:

And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.“So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.“Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

There is an interesting idea here that needs to be brought out. Jesus said in the parable that when the wheat sprung up and bore grain (fruit), the tares became evident also. The phrase “became evident” carries with it the idea of shining a light on something that is in the dark. If you were in a room with no windows and all the lights turned off and you shone a flashlight on someone, that person would become evident. The light would reveal who they are. It is the same here. When the wheat (sons of the kingdom) bear fruit, that shines a light on those who are not of the kingdom (tares – sons of the evil one!). It is the bearing of Christian fruit that reveals not only who the Christians are, but who the non-Christians are as well!

John 15:1-8

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Here, Jesus is talking to His disciples not long before He is to be crucified. He calls Himself the “true vine” (indicating that there are other vines that are not true) and names His Father as the vinedresser. He then makes it clear that those who do not bear fruit are taken away by the Father. Every branch that does bear fruit is pruned so that it bears more fruit. It gets even deeper though. Jesus tells His disciples to abide in Him. Abide means to dwell, stay around. Believers are to abide in Christ. When they do, there is evidence that follows. Jesus says that just as the branch bears fruit because it abides in the vine, so Christians bear fruit if they abide in Christ. This is a natural result of those abiding in Christ. He also says that those who do not abide in Him (and therefore do not bear fruit!) are thrown away, dry up, and cast into the fire. Those who abide in Christ will bear fruit and that fruit glorifies God…

By looking at these passages, we can see that it is not only expected that Christians bear fruit, but it is a given. Those who are truly saved will bear fruit because they are saved and because the Spirit dwells in them. Those who do not bear fruit are not genuinely saved and the lack of fruit is evidence that they’re not saved.

There is a question to be expected from all of this and that is: “What about newly born again Christians? Surely they need time before they can bear fruit?” If the production of fruit was dependent upon the Christian themselves, you might have a point. But, the bearing of fruit is the result of the work of the Spirit and that begins as soon as someone is saved. It may not be the quantity or quality of the fruit that should come in the life of a believer that has walked with Christ for20 years, but there is still fruit that is borne.

So, the question is: Are you bearing the fruit of Christianity? Do you have the evidence that Jesus has saved your soul and you are walking with Him? If not, you can still repent. If you will repent of your sins (lying, stealing, lusting, coveting, idolatry, etc) and put your faith in Christ alone to save you, you can be born again. You can have that fruit as evidence. Will you repent and trust Christ today? Tomorrow may be too late….

I’m going to start with something that is extremely important to believers. In today’s day and time there are numerous belief systems. Some (like Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism) have been around for centuries. Others (Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, Jediism) are rather recent. Some of these religions (Hinduism, Mormonism) have many gods. Others (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) have only one. Some even make claims to Christianity (Mormonism, Catholicism, JWs).

With the many different religions and the many different secular ideas vying people’s attention, it is vital that Christians understand what they believe and are able to articulate it. It is also important that Christians make sure that their beliefs line up with what scripture says. The different religious groups that make a claim to biblical Christianity (Mormons, JWs, Catholics) are very different in their own right, but they do have one in common – they all place something above the scriptures:

•             Jehovah’s Witnesses have a ruling body of 12-18 men that basically determine what all JWs believe and what doctrines they follow.
•             Mormons place a number of things above scripture. They have The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrines and Covenants that are all considered to be above the authority of scripture. They also have a president who is considered to be a prophet/apostle and the sole authority of the Mormon church.
•             Catholics have a ruling body called the Magisterium, which is headed by the pope. This group of men decides what Catholics have to believe (dogmas) as well as giving a specific interpretation of verses/passages in the Bible (which they don’t seem to have too many of). Catholics also claim to have what is called Sacred Tradition. For Roman Catholics this tradition is on par with (or above) the authority of the Bible.

Unlike the groups mentioned above conservative Protestant Christianity holds to a view commonly known as Sola Scriptura. This view and four others make up what is known as the 5 solas of the Protestant Reformation. These 5 solas are:

•             sola gratia – grace alone
•             sola fide – faith alone
•             soli Deo gloria – the glory of God alone
•             solus Christus – Christ alone
•             sola scriptura – scripture alone

Sadly, there are numerous church-going Christians who attend a Protestant church that have no idea what they’re protesting! The Protestant Reformation came as a result of the abuses of the Roman Church against the people in its flock. The Roman Church had been growing in power for centuries as authority was consolidated in Rome. The extent of this power was so great that they could forbid the celebration of the mass in the common language until 1967 and Vatican II. They also didn’t allow the Bible to be in the common language, which brought about the death of men like Jan Hus and William Tyndale. The focus of the Reformers was to bring the Bible to the people and to return scripture to its place of authority (among other things). This is where sola scriptura comes in.

Part of the problem is that many people don’t understand or know what the doctrine of sola scriptura actually is and they misrepresent it in their attacks on it. The doctrine of sola scriptura says that the scriptures found in the Protestant Bible are the ultimate infallible authority for Christian faith and living. There is nothing above them in terms of authority and everything that involves faith and living is judged by what the scriptures say. Sola scriptura is not the idea that the scriptures are the only authority. There are other authorities (parents, pastors, elders) that can help us to grow and mature in our faith, but even these authorities are subject to the scriptures. In Acts 17, the Bereans are commended for comparing everything that Paul preached to the scriptures. If this was commended when it happened to Paul, it should be no different today. We should be comparing everything we read and hear with what the scriptures say. If something doesn’t make sense, then we should go through the work/effort to make sure that we understand scripture correctly and then take another look at what we heard/read.

The Bible makes the claim to be the inspired Word of God early and often. The phrase “thus says the LORD” appears 413 times. In the very first chapter of the first book we see God saying something and it happening. From the lives of Adam to Abraham to Jacob to Moses, we see God speaking to men. The prophets were the actual mouthpieces for God. In the New Testament, it’s no different. Jesus Christ, God made flesh, walked the earth for thirty-three and a half years teaching and preaching. When He died, arose, and ascended; He promised that He would send a comforter/helper in His place. This happened on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and the church got its beginnings. The Holy Spirit inspired the scriptures to be written. When Paul writes his second letter to Timothy, he makes this clear:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Greek term for the phrase “inspired by God” is theopneustos, or “God breathed”. God Himself is the author of scripture. Of course there is the argument “but it was written by men!”. Yes…it was written by men. Over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents, by 40 different men from all walks of life (kings, priests, shepherds, government officials, musicians, fishermen, and doctors) as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It was written in times of peace, times of war, times of exile; in numerous styles/genres. In spite of all of this, the scriptures are consistent in their teachings, unified in their stance on a myriad of issues, and unique in their historical accuracy and prophetic precision. It is for these reasons and many others that Protestants (sadly, not all of them) hold to the view of Sola Scriptura.

There are many reasons why people reject the idea of sola scriptura. For some it is a matter of power/fame. There are many worldly things to be gained by preaching a false gospel. Those who adhere to the Word of Faith (WoF) teachings believe that they can speak things into existence (like God did), claim wealth and riches as belonging to them “by fiath”, rebuke Satan, and command God to act on their behalf. None of this is based on a proper understanding of scripture and require that the teachers take the scriptures out of context. For others, it is a matter of ignorance. They don’t believe in sola scriptura because they’ve never been taught it. No one has taken the time to show them both the importance and the wonder of the revelation of the scriptures. The last group we’ll talk about are those that reject sola scriptura out of pride. These people believe that they know better than God does. Some may even claim to hold to what the Bible says; but then their beliefs are compared to the scriptures taken in context, they don’t stand up to the scrutiny. Others believe that they are free to interpret the scriptures by their own feelings or “promptings”. Unfortunately, this is all to common in churches today:

- “What does this scripture say to you?”

- “I believe that this scripture says  God is a God of love and that He only wants the best for me.”

They read into the text their own biases and beliefs, thereby making God love what they love and hate what they hate. If they are ok with homosexuality, then so it God. They will ignore that fact that in both the Old and New Testaments God calls it an abomination or unnatural (Leviticus 18:22/Romans 1:16-32/1 Corinthians 6:9-10). If they believe that something is unjust, so does God. Many of those doing this fail to realize that it is no different than going outside, picking up a stone or a slab of wood, and carving a god to suit themselves – it’s idolatry.

The sad part about all of this is that it causes confusion in both the church and the world. The new Christians get confused because they don’t see a consistent view and aren’t taught that scripture is clear the majority of the time. The world is confused by this as well and they mock the idea that an all-powerful God would have such a schizophrenic bride. Not to mention the fact that it places burdens on people, discourages them, and obfuscates the truth. The scriptures are the very revelation of God! He has revealed Himself in them and given us a solid foundation to build our lives on. They are deep and life-giving. They satisfy the soul, bring peace to the fearful, and comfort the hurting. They are (for the most part) easily understood and change lives through their application.

It is my prayer that the churches around the world that have abandoned the authority of scripture to would repent and return to the ultimate authority found in the scriptures. I pray that those that hold to doctrines that can’t be found in scripture would stop muddying the waters and start preaching what they really say, regardless of how difficult it may be to accept. Through this, God will be glorified and Christ will be lifted up. The world will see and hear the truth of God and be forced to recognize Him alone as God.

by

C. H. SPURGEON

1834-1892

“He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new.”–

Revelation 21:5.

Men generally venerate antiquity. It were hard to say which has the stronger power over the human mind–antiquity or novelty. While men will frequently dote upon the old, they are most easily dazzled by the new. Anything new has at least one attraction. Restless spirits consider that the new must be better than the old. Though often disappointed, they are still ready to be caught by the same bait, and, like the Athenians of Mars Hill, spend their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. And as for ourselves, dear friends, mournfully as we sometimes think of the flight of time, we are wont cheerfully to look out upon the new epochs as they begin to dawn upon us. If our calendar suggests some dismal memories in the past, our calculation forestalls some happier prospects in the future. And it will sometimes happen that we leave so much anxiety, adversity, and chastisement behind us, that it is a relief to hope that the tide has turned, and that a course of comfort, prosperity, and mercy lies before us. One weeps over the past and the lost. I suppose the best of men must do so at times. I am sure those of us who are not the best, feel often constrained to pour out some such a lamentation as this:–

“Much of our time has run to waste;

Our sins, how great the sum!

Lord, give us pardon for the past,

And strength for days to come.”

I do not know but it is sometimes as well, when one has been plunged in sorrow, or feels ashamed of his past life–after having regretted that which is bygone and repented of it, and sorrowed over it–to feel as if he breathed another atmosphere, and had started on a fresh career. Having thrown away the old sword, he is now about to see what he can do with the new: having put off an old garment, he is desirous to walk more worthily of his vocation with fresh ones that are provided for him. Perhaps the thought of freshness, the fact of new time having dawned on our path, may be a little help to those of us who are dull and heavy, and we may be stirred up to action, or, if not to action, it may awaken earnest hope that the infusion of a new start into our lives, new vigour instead of the old lethargy, new love instead of the old lukewarmness, new zeal instead of the old deathlikeness; new, pertinacious, persevering industry for Christ, instead of the old idleness, may result. God grant that it may be so!

Looking at the text in this light, I think it speaks to everyone here present–Would you begin anew, lo, there is one who can help you to do so! From the throne where sits the once crucified but now glorified Saviour, there comes a whisper of hope to each and every soul who would be made new, and would begin life anew. “Behold I make all things new.” In trying to bring out the thoughts contained in this exclamation from the throne, from the Emperor of the Universe, from the court of the King of Kings, we shall first speak, very briefly, of the new creation; secondly, we should bid you adore the great Regenerator; and, in the third place, we shall ask you to behold with attention the fact before you, with a view of receiving benefit from it. Observe the text speaks of:–

I. A New Creation.

“I make.” That is a divine word. “I make all things.” That, also, is divine. “I make all things new.” This our Lord Jesus Christ has done upon the greatest scale. We must view his purpose. It is the purpose and intention of the Lord Jesus to make this world entirely new. You recollect how it was made at first–pure and perfect. It sang with its sister-spheres the song of joy and reverence. It was a fair world, full of everything that was lovely, beautiful, happy, holy. And if we might be permitted to dream for a moment of what it would have been if it had continued as God created it, one might fancy what a blessed world it would be at this moment. Had it possessed a teeming population like its present one, and if, one by one, those godly ones had been caught away, like Elijah, without knowing death, to be succeeded by pious descendants–oh! what a blessed world it would have been! A world where every man would have been a priest, and every house a temple, and every garment a vestment, and every meal a sacrifice, and every place holiness to the Lord, for the tabernacle of God would have been among them, and God himself would have dwelt among them! What songs would have hailed the rising of the sun–the birds of paradise carolling on every hill and in every dale their Maker’s praise! What songs would have ushered in the stillness of the night! Ay, and angels, hovering over this fair world, would oft have heard the strain of joy breaking the silence of midnight, as glad and pure hearts beheld the eyes of the Creator beaming down upon them from the stars which stud the vault of heaven. But there came a serpent, and his craft spoiled it all. He whispered into the ears of a mother Eve; she fell, and we fell with her, and what a world this now is! If a man walks about in it with his eyes open, he will see it to be a horrible sphere. I do not mean that its rivers, its lakes, its valleys, its mountains are repulsive. Nay, it is a world fit for angels, naturally; but it is a horrible world morally. As I walked the other day down the streets of Paris, and saw the soldiers with their pretty dresses, and the knives and forks which they carried with them to carve men and make a meal for death, I could not help thinking–this is a pretty world, this is. Only let one man lift his finger, and a hundred thousand men are ready to meet a hundred thousand other men, all intent upon doing–what? Why, upon cutting each other’s throats, upon tearing out each other’s bleeding hearts, and wading up to their knees in each other’s gore, till the ditches be full of blood, horses and men all mingled, and left to be food for dogs and for carrion crows. And then the victors on either side in the fray, return, and beat the drums, and sound the trumpets, and say, “Glory! glory! see what we have done.” Devils could not be worse than men when their passions are let loose. Dogs would scarce tear each other as men do. Men of intellect sit down, and put their fingers to their foreheads, racking their brains to find out new ways of using gunpowder, and shot, and shell, so as to be able to blow twenty thousand souls into eternity as easily as twenty might be massacred by present appliances. And he is considered a clever man, a patriot, a benefactor of his own nation, who, by dint of genius, can discover some new way of destroying his fellow creatures. Oh! it is a horrible world, appalling to think of. When God looks at it, I wonder he does not stamp it out, just as you and I do a spark of coal that flies upon our carpet from the fire. It is a dreadful world. But Jesus Christ, who knew that we should never make this world much better, let us do what we would with it, designed from the very first to make a new world of it. Truly, truly, this seems to me to be a glorious purpose. To make a world is something wonderful, but to make a world new is something more wonderful still. When God spake and said, “Let there be light,” it was a fiat which showed him to be divine. Yet there was nothing then to resist his will; he had no opponent; he could build as he pleased, and there was none to pluck down. But when Jesus Christ comes to make a new world, there is everything opposed to him. When he saith, “Let there be light,” darkness saith, “There shall not be light.” When he says, “Let there be order,” chaos says, “Nay, I will maintain confusion.” When he says, “Let there be holiness, let there be love, let there be truth,” the principalities and powers of evil withstand him, and say, “There shall not be holiness, there shall be sin; there shall not be love, there shall be hate; there shall not be truth, there shall be error; there shall not be the worship of God, there shall be the worship of stocks and stones; men shall bow down before idols which their own hands have made.” And yet, for all that, Jesus Christ, coming in the form of a man, revealing himself as the Son of God, determines to make all things new; and be assured, brethren and sisters, he will do it. What though he pleases to take his time, and to use humble instrumentalities to effect his purposes, yet do it he will. The day shall come when this world shall be as fair as it was at the primeval Sabbath; when there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein shall dwell righteousness. The ancient prophecy shall be fulfilled to the letter. God shall dwell among men, peace shall be domiciled on earth, and glory shall be ascribed to God in the highest. This great work of Christ, this grand design of making this old world into a new one, shall be carried into effect.

In order to accomplish this, it hath come to pass that Christ has made for us a new covenant. The old covenant was, “Do this and live.” That covenant was a sentence of death upon us all. We could not do, therefore we could not live, and so we died. The new covenant has nothing in it contingent upon creature doing, but it bases all its provisions upon Christ having done the world. “I will, and you shall,” this is the language of the new covenant. The covenant of law, in which we were weak through the flesh, left us mangled and broken. The covenant of grace reveals God’s kindness towards us, and our part thereof has been fulfilled for us by our surety, Christ Jesus. Thus it runs, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more for ever; a new heart also will I give them, and a right spirit will I put within them.” The old world is still under the old covenant of works, and its children perish, for they cannot carry out the conditions of the covenant, they cannot keep God’s law, they break it constantly, and they die. But the children of grace are under the new covenant of grace, and through the precious blood, which is the penalty of the old broken covenant, and through the spotless righteousness of Christ, which is the fulfilment and magnifying of the old covenant, the Christian stands secure, and rejoices that he is saved. Christ has thus made his people dwell under a new covenant, instead of under the old one.

In addition to the new covenant, Christ has been pleased to make us new men. His saints are “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” They have a new nature. God has breathed into them a new life. The Holy Spirit, though the old nature is still there, has been pleased to put within them a new nature. There is now a contending force within them–the old carnal nature inclining to evil, and the new God-given nature panting after perfection. They are new men, “begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This new nature is moved by new principles. The old nature needed to be awed with threatenings, or bribed with rewards; the new nature feels the impulse of love. Gratitude is its mainspring: “We love him because he first loved us.” No mercenary motive now stirs the new creature:–

“My God, I love thee–not because

I hope for heaven thereby,

Nor yet because who love thee not

Must burn eternally.”

I love thee, O my Saviour, because on the cross thou didst bear shame, and spitting, and manifold disgrace for me. New principles stir the new nature which God has given. And this new nature is conscious of new emotions. It loves what once it hated; it hates what once it loved. It finds blight where once it sought for bliss, and finds bliss where once it found nothing but bitterness. It leaps at the sound which was once dull to its ears–the name of a precious Christ. It rejoices in hopes which once seemed idle as dreams. It is filled with a divine enthusiasm which it once rejected as fanatical. It is conscious now of living in a new element, breathing a fresh air, partaking of new food, drinking out of new wells not digged by men or filled from the earth. The man is new–new in principles, and new in emotions.

And now the man is also new in relationship. He was an heir to wrath; he is now a child of God. He was a bond-slave; he is now a freeman. He was the Ishmael who dwelt in the wilderness; he is now the Isaac, and dwells with Sarah after the tenor of the new covenant. He rejoices in Christ Jesus, and feasts to the full. He was the citizen of earth once; he is now a citizen of heaven. He once found his all beneath the clouds; but now his all is beyond the stars. He has new relationships. Christ is his brother; God is his father; the angels are his friends; and the despised people of God are his best and nearest kinsfolk. And hence the man has new aspirations. He now pants to glorify God. What cared he about the glory of God once? He now pants to see God; once he would have paid the fare, if it had cost his life, that he might escape from the presence of the Lord. Now he hungers and thirsts after the living God; yea, if his soul had wings, and he could break the fetters of this mortality, he would mount at once to dwell where Jesus is. Dear friends, are you new men? If you are, you understand what it is; if you are not, I know I cannot explain it to you. Oh! to be born again is a great mystery; blessed is the soul that comprehends it! But he that knows it not will never learn it by the lip; he can only know it by the Spirit of God causing him also to be made a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Thus far I have said that the object of Christ was to make a new world, and he began by making a new covenant. Then, through his Spirit, he goes on to make new men under the new covenant, and you will see that by this means he makes a new society. Swelling words have been spoken and great attempts taken in hand to renovate society, but you can never renovate society till you have renovated the individual members who compose society. You may build a brick house, if you please; but, build it as you like, it will be a house of brick upon whatever principles of architecture it may be constructed; not until that brick shall be transformed to marble can you hope to “dwell in marble halls.” So men may launch their divers theories, and patent their social inventions, but after they have re-shaped the society of sinners, they will leave it a sinful society still. It is otherwise with Christ. By making new men he makes a new society, which society he calls his “Church”. That Church he sends into the world to act upon the rest of mankind. Verily the day will come–whether it shall be at his second advent or before his second advent, I do not know–the day when from the east to the west, and from the north to the south, there shall be a new world as far as men are concerned. There shall be no injustice towards the poor; there shall be no envying of the rich; there shall be no law to make men slaves; there shall be no power to oppress, because there shall be no will to do it. Our Lord Jesus Christ shall put a new heart into earth’s kings, and then he shall come himself to take their thrones and their crowns, and to be himself our Universal King, and in his day shall the righteous flourish.

Now I believe the way for us to regard that happy day in which he will make all things new; that happy day when the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, when the sword shall be turned into the sickle, and the spear into the pruning hook–the way for us to regard that day, I think, is not standing with our mouths open expecting it, but by setting to work after the Master’s own fashion, seeking to bring it about, to gather out the elect from mankind, to illustrate the gospel practically in our lives, and so to do as Jesus did among the sons of men; promoting light, and peace, and truth, and holiness, and happiness as God may help us.

I wish we had more time to enter fully into this part of the subject. We have not, and, therefore, we must leave it, but may you and I have a part in this new creation! Turning to our second point, I want you to:–

II. Adore This Great Regenerator.

He says, “Behold I make all things new.” Behold him! He is a man dressed in the common garments of the poor! He hath no form nor comeliness, and when you shall see him there is no beauty in him that you should desire him. He has come to make the world new. He has no soldiery, no book of laws, no new philosophy. He had come to make the world new, and to do this he has brought with him–what? Why, himself. He spends a life of weariness and sorrow amongst those who despise him, and if you want to know first and foremost how he makes all things new, you must see him sweating great drops of blood in the garden–that is the blood of the new world which he is pouring forth! You must see him bound, scourged, spat upon, led to the accursed tree. While God’s wrath for sin is yet unspent, the world cannot be new; but when that wrath on account of sin is all poured upon the head of the great Substitute, then the world stands in a new relation to God, and it can be a new world. See the Saviour then, in groans and pangs which cannot be described, bearing the curse of God, for he made him to be sin for us, though he knew no sin. The curse fell on him, as it is written, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” It pleased the Father to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; he hath made his soul to be an offering for sin.” That dolorous pain, then, of the Master was the world’s new- making. It was then and there that the world was born again. No mother’s pangs, when she brought forth a man-child, were such as those of Christ when he brought forth the new creation. It was there in the travail of his soul–did you ever catch that idea, the travail of his soul?–it was there that the new world was born! “Behold I make all things new” is a mysterious voice from the broken heart of a dying Saviour. From the empty tomb, as he rises, I hear it come in silvery notes, “Behold I make all things new.” You must trace the birth of the new creation up to the grave of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the place where the cross stood, and where his body lay.

But the actual operations of new-making the world takes place through the truth which Christ promulgated. After the relation of the world to God had been changed by the sufferings of Jesus, the world’s thought concerning God came to be changed by the preaching of Jesus. He came and revealed God to man as man had never seen God before. It was through him we learned that “God is love.” It was through him that we understood that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It is the preaching of the cross of Jesus that is to make the world new. It is not the philosophies of men, but the wisdom of God which effects the change. In the presence of Christ your philosophies must sink into darkness as stars in the presence of the sun.

And it is also by the giving of the Holy Ghost, as the result of the ascension of Christ on high, that the world is made new. Thus he gives power to the ministry. There were three thousand new creations in one day when Peter preached the gospel under the influence of the Holy Spirit. And that blessed Spirit of God is here tonight. Oh! I would that there might be some new creations tonight, that that divine heavenly Spirit would come into some of your souls, and drop there that vital spark of heavenly flame which shall never be quenched, but shall burn brightly in heaven for ever. Wherever the gospel is preached, the Spirit is present in that gospel, and he gives faith to men, gives life to men, and so they are made new, and the new-making thus goes on.

I have not time–though thoughts crowd into my mind–to speak about the way in which Christ thus new-makes the world. It is quite certain that three parts of his history are connected with it. I have only referred to his death, his burial, and his resurrection, but I might go on to speak of his constant and prevalent intercessions, for his pleading before the throne is also a part of the mighty operation; nor can I doubt but that his Second Advent will be the bringing out of the topstone with shoutings of “Grace, grace unto it!” Then shall be fulfilled–finally and exhaustively fulfilled–the saying that is written, “Behold I make all things new.” The text begins with “Behold!” and I am going to close with that same note of admiration. I want you to:–

III. Behold and to Believe.

Behold, the Lord Jesus is now enthroned in heaven. He it is who makes all things new. Is not this what some of you here present deeply need? If you look within, yourselves will see much to disgust and alarm you. Peradventure, you dare not take stock of yourselves now; you dare not consider where you are, nor what you are, nor whither you are bound. “To speak candidly,” you say, “I want reforming.” Very likely, but you want a great deal more than mere reformation. I have heard of a being who used habitually to swear, “God mend me!” Somebody said, “Better make a new one.” That is the case with full many of you. You are saying, “Well, I will turn over a new leaf.” You had better shut the book up altogether, and never turn over any more leaves, for all the pages are alike bad. “Oh! well,” says one, “I shall try if I cannot alter.” I wish you would try God’s altering of you, instead of altering yourselves. “Well, but surely, surely, I may wash and be clean; I will try to make myself as clean as possible?” Yes, yes, that is all very well; but what if you have a corpse in the house? I would have you make it clean, yet that will not make it live. However much you may wash it, it is corrupt still. You may reform yourselves as much as ever you please, all your reformation will be futile; you need more, a great deal more than that. The fact is, you must be made new. Nothing less will do; you must be made new; you must be born again. “Ah!” says one, “if I could be made new, there might be a chance for me.” Well now, Christ looks down from this throne in heaven, and he says, “Behold I will make all things new.” “Yes,” you say, “but he will not make me new.” Why not? Does he not say, “I make all things new”? “But my heart is as hard as a rock,” say you. Well, but he says, “I will make all things new,” so he can give you a new heart. “Oh! but I am so very stubborn. Aye, aye, but he makes all things new, and he can make you as tender and sensitive as a little child. Oftentimes a grey-headed sinner has looked back to his childhood, and remembered the time when he used to sing his little hymn at his mother’s knee, and he has said, ‘Ah! I have been in many strange places since then, and my heart has got seared and hard; I wish I could get back to what I was then!” Well, you can, you can. Christ can bring you there. Nay, he can bring you to something better than you ever were when those golden ringlets hung so plentifully about that pretty little head of yours, for you were not so innocent then as you now think you were. Christ can make you really pure in heart; he can make you a new creature, so that you shall be converted and become as a little child. “Oh!” say you, “how can I get it? How can I prepare myself for him?” You do not want to prepare yourself for him. God to him just as you are; trust him to do it, and he will do it. That is faith, you know–trust, dependence. Canst thou believe that Christ can save thee? Oh! thou canst believe that; well now, wilt thou trust him to save thee? Wilt thou trust him to deliver thee from thy drunkenness, from thine angry temper, thy pride, thy love of self, thy lusts? Dost thou desire to be a new creature in Christ Jesus? If so, that very desire must have come from heaven. I could fain hope that he has already begun the good work in you, and he that begins it will carry it on. Do not be afraid, however bad thy character, or however vicious thy disposition. “Behold,” says Christ, “I make all things new.” What a wonder it is that a man should ever have a new heart! You know if a lobster loses its claw in a fight it can get a new claw, and that is thought to be very marvellous. It would be very wonderful if men should be able to grow new arms and new legs, but who ever heard of a creature who grew a new heart? You may have seen a bough lopped off a tree, and you may have thought that, perhaps, the tree will sprout again, and there will be a new limb, but who ever heard of old trees getting new sap and a new core? But my Lord and Master, the crucified and exalted Saviour, has given new hearts and new cores; he has put the vital substance into man afresh, and made new creatures of them. I am glad to notice the tear in your eye, when you think on the past, but wipe it away now, and look up to the cross and say:–

“Just as I am, without one plea,

But that thy blood was shed for me,

And that thou bid’st me come to thee,

O Lamb, O God, I come.”

“Oh! make me a new creature!” If you have said that from your heart, you are a new creature, dear brother, and we will rejoice together in this regenerating Saviour.

Let me just say a few words to those of you who love the Lord. You may have some very bad children, or you have some relatives who are going on in sin from bad to worse. I earnestly recommend you attentively to consider my text. “Behold,” says Christ, “I make all things new.” “No, no,” says the old father, “I used to pray for my boy; he broke my heart; he brought his mother’s grey hairs with sorrow to the grave; but he has gone away, and I have not heard of him for years, and I am almost afraid to wish I ever may hear of him again, for he did seem so reckless, that my only comfort is in trying to forget him.” “Yes,” says a husband here, “I have prayed for my wife o many times, that I do feel tempted to give it up; it is not likely that I shall ever live to see her saved.” Oh! but, brethren and sisters, we do not know; since the Lord saved us, there cannot be any limits as to what he can do. Look at the text, “Behold I make all things new.” I will pray, “Lord, make my children new.” You shall pray, “Lord,make my wife new.” You godly wives, who have ungodly husbands, you shall pray, “Lord, make our husbands new.” You who have dear friends who lie upon your bosom, as you anxiously think of them, pray the Lord Jesus to make them new. When our friends are made new, oh! what a great comfort they are; just as much so as they formerly were a sorrow. The greater the sinner, the greater the joy to loving believers when they see him saved. “Behold,” says Christ–I do like that word– “Behold it! Stand and look at it! See how I took the man when he was up to his neck in sin, and made him preach the gospel. Can I not do the same again? Look there and see the dying thief upon the cross, black with a thousand crimes: I washed him and took him to Paradise the same day; what can I not do? Behold I make all things new.” Courage, my brethren and sisters. We will not entertain any more doubt about Christ’s power to save. Rather, by God’s grace, may we henceforth believe more in him, and, according to our faith, so shall it be done unto us. If we can only trust him for those of our friends whose faults seem to us few and light, our little trust will reap little reward; but if we can go with strong faith in a great God, and bring great sinners in our arms, and put them down before this mighty Regenerator of men, and say, “Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make them new”; and if we will never cease the pleading till we get the blessing, then we shall see ever-accumulating illustrations of the fact that Jesus makes all things new; and calling up the witnesses of his redeeming power, we shall cry in the ears of a drowsy Church and an incredulous world, “Behold, behold, behold! He makes all things new.” The Lord give us eyes to see it.

Amen.

Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. “Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.”

Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate. Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

This week, we begin a look at something that has caused a lot of controversy in some circles. Chapter 18 of Genesis is the beginning of the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before we do that, let’s recap a little.

God has come to Abram and Sarai and completely changed their lives. He has taken them from their home, set them apart with a promise of them becoming a mighty nation (even though they’re 100 and 90 respectively), has changed their names, and has now given them the sign of the covenant – circumcision. God then promised again that He would give Abraham and Sarah would have their own son, and that Isaac would be the one with whom the eternal covenant was established.

As we begin chapter 18, God again appears to Abraham. He finds him sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. As Abraham looks up, he sees three men standing before him. As soon as he sees the three men, he runs to them and bows to the earth. He instantly recognizes the Lord and makes a specific request: “if I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by”. Abraham then asks them to allow them to show them hospitality. He brings them water for their feet, and wants to bring them bread for refreshment. Abraham runs back into the tent and tells Sarah to make three bread cakes for the visitors. He then takes a calf and has it prepared. He then takes that plus curds and milk and the bread that Sarah made and placed it before the Lord and the two angels. He stood near them under the tree as they ate. While standing there, they ask him where Sarah is, and he tells them that she is in the tent.

God then tells him at the same time next year, she will have a son. Sarah, who is standing at the door of the tent, overhears this. Sarah knows that she is well past childbearing years and she physically cannot have children anymore. Because of this, she laughs at the thought that she might bring her husband a son. God, knowing that she laughed, questioned Abraham on why she laughed, asking him “Is anything to hard for the LORD?” He then tells them again that at this same time next year they will have a son. When caught out, Sarah denied that she had laughed at the thought of having a child next year. God confirms that He knows that she laughed.

It is interesting because Sarah had to know that it was God by her husband’s actions as well as Him knowing that she laughed, even though she wasn’t in His presence. What would cause her to deny that she laughed when the Lord called her on it? I don’t know. She may have been embarrassed.

Have you been embarrassed by things you’ve done? Have you denied or doubted the truth of God at different points in your life? Are you denying Him now? Maybe you’ve heard the truth about sin, hell, and judgment. How those who lie, steal, blaspheme, covet, and lust are sinners. How those who die in their sins will find themselves before a just, holy, and righteous God who will cast them into hell as the proper punishment for their sins. How you won’t have any discussion or time to argue about it before the judgment is passed. You might be denying these things because you don’t think that a loving God would do those things. You might be denying these things because it would mean that if you died right now, you would be cast into hell.

Please understand, if you are living a lifestyle of sin, and you die in that sin, you will go to hell. That’s the what the Bible says. But, the Bible also says that there is a way to escape that judgment of God. If you will repent of your sins (turn from those things that you know are wrong) and put your faith in Christ (trust Him alone to save you), you can know without a shadow of a doubt that will go to heaven when you die; not because of anything you did, but because of everything that Jesus did. Please….consider your life and what would happen if you were to die right now. Don’t deny the truth of God because things look differently that you think they should, or doubt that something like that will happen. Instead, repent and put your faith in Christ….

• The parable of the good Samaritan
• The parable of the prodigal son
• The parable of the four soils

Now, think about all of the sermons that you’ve heard preached on these and other parables. Can you say which ones were actually in context? Were they treated properly and rightly divided? Or, were they used to preach an agenda or a view other than what scripture says?

This is the problem with the way parables are often handled. Most times, it is unintentional. But, there are times when those using them purposefully twist them to make them say something other than what they really say. Before we look at one of these parables as an example, let’s look at some general things that we need to remember about parables.

A parable is a story which isn’t usually factual, but is still true to life. It’s main purpose is to teach one moral truth. While everything about a parable is used to reinforce this one truth, it is dangerous to try to give a specific definition to each aspect of the parable unless scripture gives that definition (either in the parable, or in the context of what is happening). For instance, Jesus explains the parable of the sower to His disciples, so we know what each of the soils represents, as well as the birds of the air and the thorns. We don’t have this type of explanation for every parable though. Because of this, we have to take care in interpreting parables and keep the following in mind:

1. What is the occasion for the parable/why is Jesus telling the parable? Because parables give one moral truth, we should look for why the parable was told in the first place. Did someone ask a question? Did something happen that caused Jesus to tell the parable?
2. Look for the intended meaning of the parable. Sometimes, the meaning of the parable is given in the parable itself other times, it’s given before/after the parable is told.
3. Don’t make the parable mean/say anything beyond what is clearly stated or applied to the hearers of the parable.
4. Identify the central moral truth of the parable. No detail of the parable is to be given any meaning that is independent of the main teaching of the parable. When looking at the parable, identify the relevant details that support that main truth. To give a different meaning to parts of the parable that don’t support this main truth (taking it out of context) is to twist/misinterpret scripture. A detail is only relevant if it reinforces the main truth of the parable.
5. Interpret parables in the context of the culture of the times in which they were told rather than in the modern culture. Many times, having an understanding of the culture of Bible times makes understanding the parable much easier. For instance, in the parable of the virgins, we are told about the bridegroom coming and five of the virgins being ready while the other five didn’t have enough oil for their lamps. An understanding of the marriage customs of that area during that time will make understanding the parable much easier.
6. Don’t establish doctrine when parables are the primary or only source of that doctrine. You cannot build a solid doctrine on parables. Parables can be used to affirm doctrine, but not be the foundation of it. Not only that, it is important to make sure that the understanding of the parable fits with the rest of scripture. If a non-parabolic passage of scripture can be shown to contradict our interpretation of a parable, then we have misunderstood the parable and need to go back to square one.

Now that we’ve looked at these things, let’s take a look at one of the parables Jesus told that is often misquoted, misunderstood, or just plain misused. The passage that we’re going to be looking at is Luke 15:11-32:

And He said, “A man had two sons. “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”‘ “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

This parable is commonly known as the parable of the prodigal son. Before I even get into the parable itself, let me just say something about the title that most give it. While the parable does talk about a prodigal son, I think that the title most give it contributes to its misinterpretation. This isn’t just a parable about the prodigal son, look at how Jesus starts the parable:

And He said, “A man had two sons.

It is a parable about two sons. This may seem like nitpicking, but it will hopefully be clear by the end that this is important. The parable talks about how a younger son decides that he doesn’t want to wait for his father to die in order to get his inheritance. Instead, he goes to his father and asks for it now. He then takes the money to a foreign land and squanders it on loose women and loose living (that’s the prodigal part). Then, the young Jewish boy finds himself in the middle of a foreign country during a famine and without a cent to his name. The young man finds himself in a pig sty, ready to eat the same thing that the pigs eat. This would have been repulsive to the Jews who could hear Jesus speaking. The idea of being around unclean animals like pigs would be bad enough, but to be willing to eat what they ate would have been unthinkable.

But, it is here that the man comes to his senses. He realizes that even the hired servants of his father have it better off than he does. He says that he will go back to his father, admit his sin, and ask to be like one of his hired servants because he’s not worthy to be a son. And this is exactly what he does. Then, the parable says that the father saw the son while he was still a ways off and ran to him. He hugs his neck and kisses his son. The son admits his sin and asks to be like a hired servant. The father will have nothing of it. He orders a servant to go get the ring, robe, and shoes and put them on his son. They are also to go and kill the fatted calf so that they can celebrate the return of the father’s son “who was dead and now has come to life, who was lost and is now found”. When all was ready, they began to celebrate.

Here is where most pastors/preachers stop. They talk about how you can come back to God. They speak to those who have professed Christ and then “backslid” into the world. They tell them that they can still return to God just like the young man did and how God will receive them like the father in the story did. How He is looking for them to return to Him and watches for them every day. The plea continues with talk of how it doesn’t matter what they’ve done or how long they’ve been away. If they will just come back to God all will be well.

Let me ask a question though. Is that what the parable is saying? Does the parable really talk about backsliders coming back to God? Remember, a parable only has one central truth and in this case, while it’s given in the parable itself, it seems to be oft overlooked. Before we talk about the main truth of the parable, let’s look at the context.

In Luke 15:1-2, Jesus has been preaching and teaching large crowds against the pride of the Pharisees and talked about what it takes to be His disciple and now the sinners and tax collectors were coming to Him to hear Him. In response to Jesus talking with them and touching them, the Pharisees grumble:

“This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

In response to this, Jesus begins to tell them three parables. In the first, Jesus asks them which one of them having 100 sheep and seeing one is lost, wouldn’t leave the 99 in the open field and go find the lost one. When he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and brings it home. He calls his friends to come and rejoice with him for what was lost is now found. Jesus then says, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need repentance”.

Ok, let’s think about this for a minute. The Pharisees have grumbled about Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors. The lowlife people that would make a Rabbi like Jesus unclean. Jesus tells them the parable of the 100 sheep. He says that the shepherd would leave his 99 sheep and go find the lost one. When the lost sheep is found, he rejoices with his friends. This is what the Pharisees would do too. He then says that there is more joy in heaven when a sinner repents than there is for 99 righteous people. But wait, who doesn’t need repentance? The Bible makes it clear that we all need repentance because we’ve all sinned. Not only that, but it says that there are “none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:11/Psalm 14:1-3). So who are the righteous people that Jesus is talking about if no one can be righteous and everyone needs repentance? Well, no one is righteous in God’s eyes, but they can be righteous in their own eyes… The 99 righteous are those who are self righteous. They are right in their own eyes. Am I sure? Well, in the context of the parable, yes. Remember, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, after their grumbling about His eating with sinners and tax collectors.

He then goes right into another parable. This one is about a woman who has 10 coins and loses one. The woman then lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it. This coin was a silver drachma. It’s value by itself wasn’t much, but it was still enough for the woman to search for. When she finds what was lost, she goes to her friends and calls for them to rejoice with her that what was lost was now found. Again we see Jesus summarize the parable with an almost identical statement to the first:

“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

Again, Jesus talks about joy in heaven over a sinner who repents. But, there is an interesting bit of information here. Jesus says that the rejoicing is in the presence of the angels in heaven. God Himself rejoices over the repentance of a sinner! God rejoices when the lost who are His are found again.

Do you see the pattern developing? The shepherd lost a sheep. He went looking for it and what was lost was found. The woman lost a silver coin. She searched for it and what was lost was found. In both instances, Jesus talks about a sinner who repents being represented by what was lost and then found. In the first, He compares the lost to the self righteous, but in the second He focuses on the lost. Without hesitation, He tells them the parable of the two sons. We’ve already covered a summary of part of the parable. How the son went off and wasted his inheritance. How he recognized his sin and came back to the father in repentance. How there was rejoicing upon his return. But, we haven’t talked about the rest of the parable yet. See, it is this part that most overlook or ignore and it is this part that makes the point of the parable.

“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

Here we have the elder son working in the field. He comes in from working and hears the music and commotion. He stops one of the servants and asks what’s going on. The servant tells him that they are celebrating the return of the younger son safely. The elder son gets angry and will not go in to celebrate. When the father finds out, he goes out to the elder son and pleads with him to come celebrate. In anger, the elder son says that he has served the father for years and has never neglected a command from him but was never able to have a young goat to celebrate with his friends. However, the younger son (who wasted his wealth on prostitutes) comes home and the fatted calf is killed and there is a huge celebration. The father responds by telling the elder son that he has always been with him and all that is his belongs to the elder son. He then gives the reason why they had to celebrate and rejoice: The younger brother was dead and has begun to live, was lost and is now found.

Do you see the necessity of the whole parable being preached? Without this part of the parable, it is easy to try and make something else out of it. In the parable we have a younger son who is lost and the elder son who doesn’t leave the father. The younger son leaves and wastes his inheritance, while the elder son stays with the father and never neglects (in his own words…) one command of the father. The younger son was dead and now has begun to live, was lost and now found. Now, consider the context of the parable. Remember, there is one central point of the parable and it has to fit into the context!

The Pharisees were grumbling because Jesus was spending time with sinners and tax collectors. They saw themselves as righteous (see Luke 18:10-14). They believed that they were the only ones that kept all 613 Jewish laws. They were the only ones that were really obedient to God and they had never neglected a commandment of God. The Pharisees were like the elder son! On the other hand, those sinners and tax collectors were like the younger son. They had lived like prodigals, but they recognized their sins and came to Jesus looking for the way to be right with God. They were listening to Him. The point of all three parables is the repentance of those who are lost and the rejoicing that follows. This is dealt with in the first two parables and then expounded upon in the last one. The parable of the two sons was given to show the difference between the hearts of the Pharisees and the hearts of the sinners and tax collectors. While the Pharisees grumbled about the slightest law being broken, the sinners came to Christ. This isn’t the first time that they had heard about the hardness of their hearts or their pride and arrogance, and it wouldn’t be the last. In just a few more verses (Luke 16:14) we find them scoffing at Jesus yet again for what He says.

The importance of interpreting parables the right way and in context is paramount when studying scripture. But, this leads to another interesting discussion. I said above that the parable of the two sons is one of the most misused in scripture, and I still believe that to be true. Many pastors use it to talk about backsliders and how they can still come back to Christ. As we’ve seen, that’s not the point of the parable at all. So, what does that do with the theory/idea of backsliders then? Well, first, we should define what a backslider is. This is important because we want to make sure that everyone has the same understanding and we’re not just talking past each other.

A backslider is a person that has professed Christ as their Lord and Savior at some point in their lives (usually at a young age) and then has “fallen away” from Him and spent weeks, months, and/or years living in sin. They turn their back on God and live like the world but are still saved. Sometimes, these “backsliders” have some sort of tragic event happen that “gets their attention” and they come back to the Lord. This “coming back” may be another period of time which then leads to another falling away, or it may lead to the point where the person follows Christ for the rest of their lives.

With this definition of a backslider, we can then look at the parable first to see if it actually talks of this and then look at the rest of scripture to see if the idea of a backsliding Christian bears itself out. As we’ve already seen, the context of the parable of the two sons is the instance where the Pharisees grumble about Jesus talking to, teaching, touching, and eating meals with sinners and tax collectors. In the parable of the two sons, Jesus compares the hearts of the Pharisees (as the elder son) to the hearts of the sinners and tax collectors (as the younger son). Other than the context of the statements made by the Pharisees, we don’t have any given definitions of who is who. This means that we cannot read anything that we may think is true into the parable. We cannot define the younger son as a backsliding Christian. There is nothing in the context that would give us that idea. Jesus was talking to the Jews at the time. He even says in another place in the gospel that He didn’t come to the Gentiles but to the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). So, Jesus is talking mainly to Jews. The Pharisees were Jewish, and so were the majority of His listeners (unless they were Samaritans, but that would still make them half-Jewish). The fact that the young man is a son of the father can’t be taken to mean anything specific because Jesus doesn’t define it that way and there is nothing in the context that would imply that it means anything specific. It is just a part of the story. If you wanted to make it mean something that may fit, you could try to say that the younger son was a son to the father the way that everyone in the world is generally considered a son of God because He created them. This doesn’t automatically make them Christians though.

Another thing to look at is the fact that the father says that the son was dead and now has begun to live. When did the father say this? He didn’t say this until after the son had returned from his escapade. It wasn’t until the son had repented of his sin and asked for forgiveness that he had “begun to live”. So, even in the parable itself we see that there is no support for the young man being a believer and then falling away and then coming back to God.

Along with this, we must remember that we cannot build a doctrine on parables alone and that if another part of scripture contradicts the doctrine we make from a parable, we have to start over from square one. To refresh your memory, a backslider is someone who professes Christ as their Savior and Lord and then falls away from the faith and lives in sin. The problem with this is that it is contradicted in other areas in scripture. The main one we’re going to look at is found in 1 John 3:7-9:

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The key word in this passage is the word “practices”. The word means to do something, but there is something that isn’t really apparent in the English. To get a better understanding of the meaning, we can look at the Greek. In the Greek, each verb has a voice, tense, and mood. What we’re interested is the tense. The word “practices” is in present tense. This means that it is an action that starts now and continues on into the future. So, when John says in verse 7, “the one who practices righteousness”, he’s talking about the one that lives their life according to God’s moral standard (the meaning of righteousness) today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and on and on into the future. This is the one who is righteous. Then, when John talks about the one who is of the devil, he uses the same word. He says, “the one who practices sin is of the devil”. The one who practices sin is the one who commits a sin today, and commits the same sin tomorrow, and the next day, and on and on into the future. They habitually, continuously, knowingly commit the same sin. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the definition of backslider, someone who turns away from God to live in sin? Yes, it is. John knows this and just piles on. In verse 9, he says “no one who is born of God practices sin“. No one who is born of God can live in sin. This means that a backsliding “Christian” is not born of God, and if they’re not born of God, they’re not a Christian to begin with.

Now, before you get mad at me, let me make a distinction. A Christian can (and will) struggle with sin. There are sins that each of us will struggle with. We will have those things (most often the things that kept us from Christ to begin with) that we will deal with for the rest of our lives. We will be tempted to do those things almost daily. But, struggling with sin is much different than diving into sin and living in it. It’s not the same as knowingly and willingly choosing to live in sin (which is what a backslider does). The amazing thing is that God says that He will give us a way out when we are tempted (1 Cor. 10:13).  

Understanding parables is important in our study of scripture. They were given so that those who could understand the truth would hear it while those who were unable/unwilling to hear the truth wouldn’t be condemned for their hearing it. They speak to us central truths that can be beneficial to us and give more support to the doctrines that we hold to. Because of this, please take care in what you read and how you read it.

Thoughts? Comments? Leave them below and I’ll try to get back to you soon!

It seems that many of the American churches have decided to step into this stream of fast-moving, shallow, feelings-based “ministry” in order to “reach out” to the people that need to hear the “gospel”. These churches (and for many, I use that term very lightly) spend the majority of their time and money on presenting entertainment instead of preaching about eternity. Nothing is said about sin, hell, or judgment because those things are dusty and old-fashioned. They’re out of date and do nothing but chase people out of the church. Instead, they’re being replaced by (a false view of) love, hope, and faith. There is nothing that brings conviction in any part of the service. Instead, it is all about being uplifting, encouraging, and comforting. It doesn’t matter to the “pastor” if the people in the seats are truly and soundly saved. They’re in the church, so they must at least be seeking Christ and for these “pastors”, that’s enough. That’s not to say that there isn’t any in-your-face words, but those words are reserved for the doctrine loving, Bible studying, theologically worshipping fundamentalists. Those who hold to theology and doctrine are seen as Pharisees and narrow-minded for their willingness to put the truth before their own desires.

These “churches” draw people by the thousands only to get them hyped into an emotional state (although they’ll tell you that it’s not) and then lead them in some kind of prayer that gets them inoculated to the real gospel. They are lead to believe that they are now saved, but they don’t know why they’re saved or what they’re saved from. They live in sin and are told that they are going to heaven when they die. They are continuously given an emotional fix and entertained with secular songs and talks/messages about 80′s hair bands.

While there are many of these types of churches out there, I’ve chosen to focus on one of them for now; although I’ll probably do other posts on different churches in time. The church that we’ll be looking at this time is North Point Church in Springfield, Missouri. The “Lead Pastor” is Tommy Sparger. We’re going to go through some interesting stuff that I noticed about the things that the church focuses on, some of the sermons that are preached, the “worship” offered, what they profess to believe, and anything else that catches my attention as we go through this. I’m going to italicize everything of theirs and put my responses in green so that it will be easier to follow. All scripture quotations will be italicized and in blockquotes.

The Website

Ok, the first thing that I wanted to look at is the church’s website. While I hate the idea of giving them more traffic, it is part of our little expose, so here’s the website:

http://www.northpointchurch.tv/

At first look, the church’s website looks slick and up-to-date. The graphics and layout are eye-catching, but this is all about ensnaring and drawing in goats, so an appealing website is crucial to all of this. The images that are currently being shown include a large crowd at what looks like a concert, as well as different sliding images based on current events happening at the church. One of the other things that I notice is that North Point has two campuses. In other words, they broadcast the services to another church building across town to another large group of people. While I’m not a big fan of this, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re way off on their theology, but it is a flag for me. One of the last things that we’ll talk about on this website is what is found under the “Videos” section. Under this tab, you’ll find the “Band Performances”. Performances? Really? Is that what they’re calling worship nowadays? We’ll look at this more in-depth in a little bit. The other thing that I noticed in looking under the “Videos” section is the fact that what many other churches would call sermons, are called “Weekend Talks” here. No. I’m not joking… I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the reason that they don’t call them sermons is because some of those that attend might be offended because they had a bad church experience where the preacher actually told them about sin or hell and they got their feelings hurt.

For our purposes overall though, the look isn’t that important. I really couldn’t care less about how the site looks. I’m more concerned about the content. The first thing will look at are the beliefs of the church (found under Home>About NPC>Our Beliefs).

Their Beliefs

When you get to the page, it shows a graphic of a heart shape made from a person’s hands. I’m not sure when this became popular, but it is relevant. Here is how the beliefs page opens up:

We believe that God loves you. There is nothing more important we could list first.

While I could go along with this statement, the modern idea of God’s love is so distorted from the scriptural view of what God’s love is, that I can only cringe in what they are about to say. I hope that I’m wrong, but I doubt that I will be, I guess, after seeing church after church saying they believe in all the right things and then do and act the complete opposite, I’ve gotten a little jaded when people profess things about Christianity…

We believe that he intensely desires every person to search for him. We believe people can indeed seek out and find God, because he is not far from anyone. And at the same time, he is also relentlessly pursuing you. We believe that God wants to connect you to the story of redemption he has been writing for the world.

Wait. God intensely desires every person to search for Him? He does? Where is that in scripture? Not only that, is it the reality? This may sound nice, but there are a few problems with this. First, it isn’t found in scripture. Actually, the idea is refuted from scripture:

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:1-3)

From this Psalm we see a few things. First, there is no one that does good. I have a feeling that’s going to come in handy later. Second, God looked down from heaven to see if there were any of the sons of men who understand and seek after Him. What did He find? “They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt”.

Romans 3:11 sees Paul quoting Psalm 14:2 and echoing the same sentiment. No one seeks God.

While scripture does talk about God being near all of us, and while there are numerous places where we are told to seek God, it still remains that no one does. I didn’t. Everyone I’ve ever talked to who has been truly born again has said the same thing. They didn’t seek God. I also don’t really agree with the idea that God relentlessly pursues everyone. Not in the manner that it’s being delivered here. The way that it’s written makes it sound like God is doing everything He can to catch up to us so that He can give us some wonderful thing that He created especially for us. It makes God sound more like a doting old man than the just, holy, righteous, perfect God that He is. That may sound picky (and it’s only going to get worse), but it’s the truth. The idea of “connecting” with God’s “story” of redemption also leaves a lot to be desired. God doesn’t want you to connect with His story, He commands you to repent (Acts 17:30).

This story of his is of a rebirth. Not simply fixing what was broken, but completely replacing what “was” with something new. We believe God has given all of us a place in this story; in community both alongside him and amongst each other. Our places in this story look different, because we are different. But we are all in this story, on this journey, together. Belief in God is not the end of that journey, but merely the beginning.

Reading through this paragraph, it sounds like it came right out of a New Age book. The Bible does talk about being born again (John 3:3). It even talks about replacing the old creature for a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).  The problems start with the fact that there is no talk made of why replacing “what was” with something new is even necessary. Why would they need to be replaced if God already loves them? If they’re already a part of the “community”, part of the “story” that God is writing why would any of this even need to happen? If He’s already given every one of us a place in this story, we have no need of being replaced with something new do we? The whole thing sounds to me like it’s got the flavor of universalism, like everything of importance is already done because God just loves you so much (said in that high, cheek-pinching-aunty voice), and the rest is just a formality.

The use of the word “journey” doesn’t help matters either. No one that I know of uses the term journey to describe anything about Christianity or the Christian life. Some of them do talk about the rock band Journey (which we’ll also talk about later), but that’s about as far as it goes. The idea that life is a journey that you’re on and God just kinda brings you along until you reach a certain point in your life and then “BAM” (I just channeled Todd Bentley) you’re a Christian is ridiculous. But that is exactly what this is saying. They make it sound like belief in God is all that is necessary for someone to receive the gift of salvation brought about only through Christ (whom they haven’t mentioned yet). This is hardly the truth. James 2:19 says that “even the demons believe, and they tremble”, but no one in their right mind would ever think that the demons were born again…

Because of this journey and the story God communicates to all of us, you won’t find a list of beliefs with isolated text references to easily check off here. We don’t think that does either God or our beliefs about him justice. You wouldn’t hold a conversation with your children, family, or close friends by reciting a list. That is how you go about starting an argument.

So instead, we have our beliefs at NPC in the form of a story – a narrative. A casual, yet important conversation. Because we believe that God doesn’t want to fight & argue with you, but to be in conversation and community with you. What we believe about God is at the very core of what we believe about ourselves, each other, the whole world. Ultimately, everything in existence is part of this one great story.

Annndddd, this is where it goes downhill quickly. They purposefully choose not to list their beliefs with the scriptures that support them. They say that it’s because of the journey that we’re all on together and the story that we’re in. Really? Is that really why? Or is it because they can’t twist them together to support what they believe? If they, as a church, and the pastor, as the shepherd, can’t even do the work to show that their beliefs are supported from scripture; why should I trust them when it comes to their serm…um…talks? What would possibly make them think that I would trust them with some of my spiritual growth as well as look up to them if they can’t even do the simplest of things and articulate why they believe what they believe from the very book that should be the source of everything: preaching, rebuke, exhortation, correction, training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?

They don’t think that listing God’s very own words to show that what they’re doing is in obedience to him does him any justice? Seriously? They think that presenting their beliefs as a narrative does Him justice? We’re not talking about holding a conversation with friends or family. We’re talking about clearly and concisely laying out what they believe in a way that people can look at, understand, and go to the scriptures to find whether or not what they believe really does line up with what scripture says. To not do this says to me that not only can they not do it, they don’t want to. If they did try this, there would be many beliefs that don’t have any references and it may cause some in their congregation to question what they really believe. Of course, if most of them are goats, they may not have much to worry about either way.

They say that listing things is only done when you want to argue with people. Really? Obviously they’ve never tried to explain things to people in a way they can understand. I do it all the time and I often list things. But, so what? What if it does start an argument? Is that necessarily bad? When did arguing get stuck with just a negative connotation? I’ve had many arguments with brothers and sisters in Christ where we’ve both come away better for it. It’s called “iron sharpening iron” (Proverbs 27:17). We are to be ready at all times to defend our faith to anyone that asks us (1 Peter 3:15). Will they not defend what they believe? Do they think that by not putting their beliefs up clearly where they can be easily understood it will keep them from argument?

I’m not really sure how to read the last two sentences. If I take it in context, it just continues the sappy, shallow treatment that they have given everything else so far. It’s got that airy, ungrounded feeling to it. Also, the term “narrative” usually isn’t used to refer to much of anything in mainline Christianity. It’s often found only in emergent and some seeker-sensitive circles. God doesn’t want to fight or argue with whom? Those who aren’t saved? Wanna bet? Scripture says that sinners are at enmity with God (Romans 8:7/James 4:4). Those who aren’t born again are called sons of disobedience (Ephesian 5:6) and children of the devil (1 John 3:8,10). Nevermind that Paul often talks about being a soldier for Christ (Phil. 2:25/2 Tim. 2:3/Eph. 6:10-18) and tells Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). So basically what you’ve got is a “church” that doesn’t understand their reason for being here, or just outright denies it in favor of worldly fame and fortune.

We believe that hope was realized in the person of Jesus Christ, the living God invading our world as part of humanity. Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, to heal and comfort the brokenhearted, to announce a new arrival of the kingdom of God, to restore our fractured world. As God once rescued his people from Egypt, Jesus came to set all captives free forever. His message was a breath of fresh air to those who were enslaved by the systems in place. Likewise, his message was rejected by many who wished to hold on to the status quo, as he stood up to the oppressive nature of both the religious elite and the Roman empire. Because of this confrontation, Jesus was made an example of…

Um…what hope? I don’t see where they talked about any hope. Are we supposed to just take a leap of faith and connect the idea that we have a part in the “story” with the fact that this gives us hope? Or that God wants to replace what was with something completely new? Why should we have hope realized in Jesus Christ? They list a number of reasons why Jesus came (wait! isn’t that going to start an argument?), but none of them deal with sin, hell, judgment, or God’s wrath on sinful man. I would also have to wonder about their understanding of both the Exodus story and the extent of salvation. When God freed Israel from Egypt, He freed the obedient Jews who put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes. We don’t have any indication that there was anyone who didn’t do this, but we don’t know. When Jesus died, He didn’t set all captives free forever. There are people in hell right now. They were captives, and they weren’t set free. Did Jesus fail? Nope. Jesus came to save those who the Father has given to Him (John 6:39/10:27-29), those who believe in Him (John 3:16). Those who don’t believe are already condemned (John 3:17-18).

While His message may have been a “breath of fresh air” to some, it wasn’t to all who were enslaved by the systems in place. I know that we don’t usually look too highly on the Pharisees, but they were slaves to the system too. And they didn’t think that Jesus’ message was a “breath of fresh air”. As a matter of fact, many of the Jews didn’t even think that they were enslaved, although they were being occupied by Rome at the time (John 8:31-36)! His message was rejected by many of all statuses for the same basic reason, they were unwilling to acknowledge their sin or their need for a Savior. What I find amusing is that they talk above about not being argumentative or confrontational, but that’s exactly what Jesus did and they acknowledge that here! Why are they unwilling to do the same?

We believe God inspired the writers of the Bible to speak to people of all generations, including this one.

The Bible was written as a sort of road map to help us along our journey. God calls us to engage this road map both individually and with others; in fact perhaps the best way to figure the map out is to have many pairs of eyes looking at it together. We learn about the story thus far, and our place in it today, from the Bible.

We believe that in the beginning, what God created was good. Humanity was created to be in community with God, each other, and all of creation. But through our own mistakes, darkness and evil entered into the story and are now a part of the world. This devastating event led to our relationships with God, ourselves, others and creation being fragmented — a shadow of what they were meant to be — and in desperate need of redeeming.

I believe that God inspired the writers of the Bible to speak His truth, the way He meant it so that it would lead those who would repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ to Him. To call the Bible a “road map” is to take much of what it is and throw it away. It isn’t just directions for our “journey”. It’s not just to help us live better. It is God’s very revelation of Himself. Again, He doesn’t call us to engage the road map, He calls us to repent. The fact that we’ve gone this far through their beliefs and they have yet to mention sin, hell, or judgment says a lot about what they really believe.

Oh, wait! They’re getting to the gospel. No…no they’re not. In the beginning, what God created was indeed very good (Genesis 1:31). Humanity wasn’t created to be “in community with” God, each other, or all of creation. God created everything for His glory. That’s it. And then we get to the shallowest part of the whole thing so far. They say that darkness and evil entered the world because of our own “mistakes”. Really? Is that what scripture says? Our “mistakes” brought death, darkness, and evil into the world? Um…nope. It wasn’t our mistakes, it was sin:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned–

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12, 17-19)

Death, evil, and condemnation all entered the world through one man’s sin. It is not just a mistake. It’s not like a typo, or a miscalculation. This is a SIN! It is an abomination to God and all it took was one for everything to be defiled. A mistake is not a “devastating event”. Why would we desperately need to be redeemed for a mistake? What do we need to be redeemed from? It is this sugary, cotton candy presentation of something that isn’t the gospel that has left so many people thinking that they are saved when they’re not.

We believe God did not leave us behind to wallow in our mess. Instead he promised to heal this broken world. As part of that process of restoration, God chose a people to act on his behalf: Abraham, and his descendants. God promised to bless them collectively as a nation so that through them all other nations would be blessed. In time, this nation called Israel became enslaved in Egypt and they cried out to God for deliverance. God heard their cry, and he answered their prayers. He saved and led his chosen people out of Egypt, giving them both purpose and identity. They were to be a holy people, God’s treasured possession as a nation of priests to the world. Despite near constant unfaithfulness on the part of Israel, God refused to abandon them.

God prepared and led his people to the promised land. Their favor from God was interwoven with their mission to represent God to other nations. They made steps toward their purpose, but time and again they failed. They allowed foreign gods into their culture, ignored the poor and oppressed among them, and abused foreigners in their lands; despite once being poor, oppressed and abused in a foreign land themselves. God spoke to his people through the prophets, re-enforcing his heart for the poor, the needy, and the down and out. We believe God cares deeply and passionately for the marginalized and oppressed among us today, as he did then.

Again, there is no mention of sin. It is a mess, but that’s all. Just get some Brawny paper towels and clean it up and everything will be ok. That’s not what sin is. Sin is a transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4) and it has eternal consequences for the unrepentant sinner, but you would never gather that kind of distress or urgency from this “narrative”. To take thousands of years of Israel’s history and boil it down to “God cares for the needy and the down-and-out” is to trivialize what really took place. While God does care for those in need, it isn’t the main purpose of what He’s done through Christ. The poorest person in the world can have greater riches than Bill Gates or Donald Trump if they are born again. Now, I’m not talking about wealth or health like some preach. I’m talking about assurance. I’m talking about knowing that you are cleansed of your sins and going to heaven when you die. That is worth more than anything the world has to offer!

Through Israel’s continued disobedience, they rejected God’s plan for them and were no longer interested in serving their part. They returned to exile in another foreign land, like before in Egypt. But there was always a handful who remained hopeful to a restored kingdom of God; where justice and peace would reign over oppression and brutality.

We believe Jesus’ path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection is what brings life to all of creation. Jesus is our only hope for returning to a peaceful relationship between God and humanity. Through Jesus, we have been forgiven, and restored to full community with God. Because of this, God is now likewise restoring us to each other, ourselves and creation. Jesus calls for his followers, his church, to be a blessing to the rest of the world. Through his spirit God fills us with gifts, guides, comforts, counsels and directs the church to be an expression of himself in the world.

Still no mention of sin, although they do mention disobedience. There is also more mention of oppression and justice. I wonder if North Point believes in the idea of “social justice” or if they believe that doing things to help people is a way of evangelizing them or sharing the gospel with them. It sure sounds like it. Is the kingdom of God really about “justice and peace” reigning over “oppression and brutality”? Every instance I remember of Jesus talking about the kingdom of heaven really didn’t have a whole lot to do with oppression and brutality. Instead it was about sinners being saved. But I might not be using the Message “Bible” for my studies and, therefore, may have an irrelevant translation…

Surely they have to know that the second paragraph above is a verbatim copy and paste job from a previous section of this page? If not, they’re not as attentive as they claim to be. If they do know, then they aren’t as savvy as they think they are. After the repetition, they say that they believe that “Jesus’ path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection” brings life to all creation. It does? That’s the only reason He came to earth, lived as a human being for 33 1/2 years and then died a horrible death on the cross; so that He could bring life to all creation? That isn’t even close to why He came and it just lends more weight to the idea that North Point really doesn’t have a clue what the real gospel is, and they don’t seem to be all that concerned in finding out. They say that through Jesus we have been forgiven, but forgiven of what? They never really gave any evidence to show us that we need forgiveness. Jesus has called us to be a blessing to the world? Where is that in scripture? He does call us to go into the world, and for specific reasons:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

We are to go into the world and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe all the Jesus commanded us. I don’t see any reason in the things posted above to believe that this really is the concern of North Point. To make disciples, you have to preach about sin (like Jesus did – Matthew 4:17). You have to show them the law (Mark 10:17-23) and help them see their need for Christ. Then, when they repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus to save them from God’s wrath they are baptized and taught how to observe all the things that Jesus commanded. This is the purpose of the church. Not so that we can be “restored to each other and creation”.

We believe when the church gets it right, it is the hope of the world. We believe the church should be a breath of fresh air as Jesus was, instead of oppressive as the empires which fought against him. We believe God blesses the church so that we in turn can bless others. The church is a global movement following Jesus’ example for us through love, peace, sacrifice and healing as we embody the resurrected Christ–who lives in us and through us–to a broken and hurting world.

And we are giving our lives to living out that future reality, now.

The fact remains that the church can’t “get it right” if they’re not doing what they are supposed to be doing. If North Point doesn’t preach the true gospel then, according to Paul, they are anathema (Galatians 1:8-9). Not only that, but the true gospel is the only thing that will get people saved (Romans 1:16). If this is not being preached, then it doesn’t matter how many people say a prayer, sign a card, or profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Unless they repent, they will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3,5). While God does bless the church, it is not His main concern. There are many Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith. That’s not considered a blessing by many here in the States. Instead, Christians are called out of the world so that they can go back into it and preach the truth so that sinners might be saved. While the church exists around the world, it is not a “movement”. It is a body, with Christ at the head, that is used by God for His glory. For the body to function correctly, it needs to act in obedience to the head. If it doesn’t, then it’s diseased or dead.  Do we reach out to those in need? Yes. Do we help the broken and hurting? Yes. But that is not the gospel!

As with before, the focus is on oppression and injustice rather than sin and judgment. If the people at North Point truly long for and hope for things to be as God intends, then they should stop trying to entertain people with a watered down, shallow gospel that has no power. Instead, they should preach the truth of scripture, regardless of how harsh or unloving it may seem. The most loving thing that I can do for someone who is destined for hell is to tell them the truth of their situation and pray that God draws them to Him.

I don’t really understand how you “live out that future reality now”, but it seems like more flowery language meant to soften the blow that will come when their congregants stand before Jesus and He says “depart from me, I never knew you”. One of the ironies for me in the entire belief statement is how similar it is to the one found on Rob Bell’s church site. Of course, to them, this may not be a bad thing…

About the Pastor

The church also has a page where you can learn more about the Lead Pastor of North Point. I’m just going to pick out some things and respond to them.

Tommy is our Lead Pastor at North Point Church, so you could say he’s responsible for the circus we have going here.

He casts vision for the church, leads and directs our team, and in his spare time drafts up a message to deliver nearly a half dozen times each weekend. He pretty much eats, sleeps and breathes North Point.

I chose this section for a couple reasons. One is because they call the church a circus. I find this amusing and probably closest to the truth. At least they won’t have to change the logo or anything….

I also picked this part because it says that the Lead Pastor “casts vision” for the church. I’ve heard this in other churches, including one that I used to attend and I’ve always wondered something. Can you use a low-end Zebco reel for casting vision or do you need a Shimano for that? What pound test line do you use? The idea of “casting vision” has no basis in scripture, well, not when scripture is used in context. You can get the Bible to say just about anything when you twist it and chop it up. I also find it kind of amusing that the pastor crafts his message “in his spare time”. As a pastor who is called to feed the sheep (John 21:15-17) the message should be one of the top priorities, if not the top priority. It was for the disciples (Acts 6:2). I guess it could be considered admirable to know that the pastor “eats, sleeps, and breathes North Point”, but I would rather my pastor eats, sleeps, and breathes scripture (1 Timothy 4:13).

What inspires you? The thought of the Dallas Cowboys without Jerry Jones at the helm.

What is your biggest challenge or struggle? Filling out this form

I guess that this was done for a joke, but on a page that is supposed to be giving people that are checking out the church some sort of insight into the pastor, it doesn’t seem all that funny for him to do this. Is there nothing that he could say in order to show himself to be something of a man of God? I mean, they didn’t have any problem coming up with sappy, syrupy stuff for their “What We Believe” page did they (well, except for that copied paragraph)? I wouldn’t want someone to post something misleading about themselves (although it happens on numerous church websites), but it would concern me if I wanted to know more about the pastor and this is all I got….just sayin’…

The Music

As I said earlier, under the “Videos” tab you can find the band’s performances. These are worship songs that they play during the different services. I will say that I don’t know if all of them were played at a Sunday morning service or not, but that’s not really going to be my point.

If you look at the videos that are posted, you’ll find familiar songs like “Our God” (which would fall into the obligatory Chris Tomlin category), “God is Alive”, “Awake My Soul”, and “Victory”. Some of these songs I’m not sure who the original artist is, but from what I’ve seen, they could at least be passed off as rudimentary worship songs. It’s not these songs that got my attention though…

If you continue looking at the site, or you go to their Youtube channel (because every relevant church should have one), you’ll see that these songs are in the minority. The majority of the songs listed are secular songs. Some of the songs that I’ve seen them sing on their channel include Zombie (Cranberries), Dream On (Aerosmith), Here I Go Again (Whitesnake), Help! (Beatles), I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor), Desire (U2), Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey) and my favorite Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones).

My first thought was, “What do any of these songs have to do with worshipping God?” I mean, can you take a secular song that wasn’t written as worship, and sing it to the glory of God? I guess, if you were the lenient type (meaning extremely liberal), you could play six degrees of separation with the lyrics. Take “Sympathy for the Devil” for instance. It mentions both Lucifer and Jesus Christ. That’s enough to make it a worship song isn’t it? Or how about “Dream On”? It’s got the phrase “good Lord”. That’s plenty! “Don’t Stop Believin’” has “believin’” right in the title and it’s an “uplifting” song about perseverance, right? “Help!” by the Beatles just has to be talking about us reaching up to God for help. “I will Survive” is a little tougher. It doesn’t specifically mention God or Jesus, so how can we play it in church? Well, I have the answer! It mentions love once or twice, and everyone knows that God is love (1 John 4:8), so that’s perfect! It gets even harder with the others though. “Desire” does talk about a preacher, but what do you do with these lyrics:

She’s a candle burning in my room
Yeah I’m like the needle, needle and spoon

That’s not quite something that should be played in church should it? Well, maybe having the word “preacher” in there cancels it out…Then there’s “Zombie”. I spent at least an hour trying to figure out how a song protesting the IRA killing two children could be tied to worship of God. It doesn’t have God or Jesus in it. It doesn’t mention love. I know! The Bible says that before people get saved, they are dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). We’re pretty much like walking zombies! But, when Jesus “connects” with us, He takes us from being a zombie and, because He’s a “breath of fresh air”, gives us new life. He takes what “was” and replaces it with something so much better. I’m sure that’s what they mean by singing that song in church on Sunday. I really do appreciate the way that they tried to copy the lead singers Irish accent too. That was a great touch! Who knows, maybe I’ll check their Youtube channel next week and see them playing “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. Wouldn’t that be great? (end sarcasm delivered in the high pitched voice of a high school, valley girl cheerleader)

Ok, this just makes me gag. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I can’t be sugary and syrupy like that when it comes to the truth or if it’s the fact that these people actually think like this. If you add to that all of the comments on the Youtube channel by their “churchgoers” talking about how they love the fact that their church “rocks out” it just gets depressing. These people have absolutely not clue as to what is really happening, and if they don’t know what is really going on, they certainly can’t help others. I guess that with all of this, it’s really trivial that they’re about 20 years behind and they definitely don’t do it as well as the world does.

Some may see this as a church bashing post. I guess that depends on your definition of church. You may think that I’m just being hateful, Pharisaical, narrow-minded, judgmental, or mean. Well, I will admit that stuff like this really gets up my nose. It does nothing to further the gospel and everything to hinder those in the “sugar stream” of worldly entertainment from getting out and finding the truth. That makes me mad. These people are dying and going to hell and their “pastor”, the man who is supposed to shepherd and feed them, is leading them to the edge of the cliff like lemmings and just pushing them off. That’s not only pathetic, it’s disgusting. Don’t believe me? Look at a list of some of the “sermon” titles that the lead “pastor” has preached:

God at the Movies – E.T.

Jaws

Schindler’s List (Ooh! This one has Jews in it!)

The Whoopie Cushion Life – Pull My Finger

Silent But Deadly

Blame It On The Other Guy In The Elevator

Whoever Smelt It Dealt It

And the list goes on….but not for too long. So, either they haven’t been in “the biz” that long, or they only keep the newest “talks” up for people to view. Regardless, there is nothing here that would lead me to believe that this is an actual church. Sure, it’s a building where people talk about Jesus (maybe…well, when it’s the loving, caring, hold-me-like-a-girl/boyfriend Jesus). They have a great sound system and a band. They have all kinds of activities. They are “relevant” too. But none of these things make a church. What makes a group of people a church is when they are made up of born again believers who have decided to grow in holiness over wanting to be entertained. It’s when they are willing to be corrected and correct others in love. It’s when they reach out to their community with the true gospel of Jesus Christ to see people saved instead of trying to draw them into the church with gimmicks in the hopes that they’ll pick up a watered down false gospel through osmosis. A church is made up of people who are willing to stand for their faith and to argue when necessary. They seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness first so that He is glorified. They value the scriptures of God above all else because it is here that they learn about Him and how they are supposed to live and act. They love with agape, not only because they are commanded to, but because they want to.

As I said above, you may find my post upsetting or mean, but it’s really not meant that way. Unless people hear that they need to repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ to save them, they’ll die and go to hell. It’s what I needed. And, graciously, God provided for me. He can do the same for you. If you’ll turn from your sins (lying, lusting, stealing, coveting, gossip) and acknowledge that those things are enough to send you to hell; if you’ll put your trust in Jesus Christ to save you, then the Bible says that you will be saved without a shadow of a doubt. You can have the assurance that when you die, you’ll go to heaven. That is a promise from God. Will you hear His call to you? Will you repent and trust Christ?

In light of the false prophecy and the horrible handling of people and truth, I wanted to take a look at what happened and how it affects both Christians and non-Christians. To help understand what happened, it is important to know some of the background of Harold Camping and his past. Mr. Camping is no stranger to giving a false prophecy. In 1994, Mr. Camping said that the rapture would take place on September 6th, 1994. Considering the fact that you’re reading this, it should be obvious that he was wrong. Mr. Camping didn’t start out this way though. At one point, Mr. Camping was a professing believer of the reformed persuasion. He taught on TULIP and other reformed doctrines. He sold his construction company and used the money to start up Family Radio Network. Over this new Christian broadcasting network, he would play Christian songs, bible readings, sermons from sound Bible teachers and even had his own program (Open Forum) where he would discuss different theological topics based on his reformed theology.

Discipline brings a change of heart…but not the good kind

This all changed on May 21st, 1988 (hmmm….) when Camping was asked to leave his church in Alameda. He had become engrossed with eschatology (end times study) and had begun to teach his own views on what the Bible said about the coming judgment and what was going to happen. When Camping ignored his church’s directive to stop teaching his unbiblical ideas in his classes, the church practiced discipline and asked him to leave. Not only did Camping leave, but many of the other members left as well (they all worked at Family Radio Network). Because he had an outlet for his teachings outside of the church, he continued building on what had started in the church. With his split from the church and no one to hold him accountable, Camping began to proclaim the end of the world on Sept. 6th, 1994. To this he added other ideas, like the idea that the Holy Spirit had left the organized church and that no one could be saved if they went to one. He also has said that those who preach and teach the gospel in churches after 1988 are servants of Satan, and that the organized churches are ruled by him. Still not satisfied, Camping has proclaimed other heresies like annihilationism, modalism, and the idea that Jesus died twice; as well as denying the total depravity of man.

For a long time he has pushed these ideas and, sadly, many people have fallen to the deceptions. When Sept. 6th 1994 came and went, Camping changed his tune a little bit. He said that he had been correct about the spiritual significance of the date but had misinterpreted the meaning of it. Fortunately for all of us, God seems to have corrected His mistake (because He can’t faithfully communicate to us, you know) and revealed to Camping that it was really the beginning of the end times pouring out of the Holy Spirit where numerous people would be saved (but not in the church!). As this pouring out began, Camping also said that there would be 8,400 days (23 years) until the Tribulation ends and the rapture occurs. This is the May 21st date that has just recently passed. He said that those who remained behind would be on the earth for another 5 months (153 days) and then the world would end.

Fast forward to the past week. Camping and his followers were “sure” of the day and what would happen come six o’clock. They spent millions on billboards, pamphlets, and other materials to let people know that they didn’t have much time left. If this were all though, it would be bad enough. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. Those who trusted in Camping and his false prophecies also did other things. They sold everything they had, they euthanized their pets (where’s PETA at now?), and poured their lives into the false message. There were fights with spouses, children told that they were going to be left behind, and one woman who tried to kill her two children. I’m sure Satan was gloating over all of it. The confusion (see 1 Corinthians 14:33) caused by this will have lasting effects on thousands of people and Harold Camping doesn’t seem to care a whit for any of them.

He recently came out with a press conference about what had happened and how it should be seen. Camping made it clear that his misinterpretation of the past week’s events was due to him looking at things to “factually” and not “spiritually” like he should have. In his short talk, Camping also said that while the rapture and earthquakes he predicted didn’t happen, that it was still a “spiritually significant event” (do you see a pattern here?). He has now said that what happened invisible, “spiritual” visitation of divine judgment on the earth and that the world would still end on Oct. 21st of this year. On top of all of this, when asked about who will be saved, he clearly stated that being a Christian has nothing to do with salvation; that Hindus and those of other religions will have just as much chance to be raptured “if God has saved them”.

Camping walks a well-worn path

This entire scenario is an instance of history repeating itself. William Miller, a preacher in Vermont, predicted that the world would end between March 21st, 1843 and March 21st, 1844. He based this idea on Daniel 8:14. Just like Harold Camping, Miller was sure of his prediction, having used mathematical calculations and numerology to determine the dates. And, just like Camping, Miller was wrong. Like Camping, Miller set a new date of October 22nd, 1844. And he was wrong again. The second false prophecy ended up with the title of “The Great Disappointment”. After being wrong again, Miller’s followers became disillusioned and many left the Millerite movement. Miller himself still believed that the Second Coming of Christ was near, and he died in 1849 believing this to be true.

Miller did leave a legacy though that is still seen today. One group of Miller’s followers was led by Ellen G. White, the “prophetess” and one of the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist movement. She and her followers believed that Miller hadn’t been wrong after all. Instead, Miller had predicted the day that Jesus actually entered the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. It was here that Jesus began “investigating” each believer to see if they were worthy to be saved. Miller’s is also believed to have influenced the group known as Jehovah’s witnesses. The Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted the Second Coming of Christ in 1914 and when that didn’t happen, they reinterpreted it to mean a “spiritual enthronement” of Jesus.

Whether Harold Camping’s repeated false prophecies will have the same effect as Miller’s remains to be seen. It doesn’t seem that there is another person to step up and take his place when he dies.

The aftermath of false prophecy

So, in light of the numerous false prophecies Harold Camping has made and the effect that it’s had on his followers, the church, and the rest of the world; what can we take away from this?

The first thing that needs to be understood is that Harold Camping is NOT a Christian. He has spent much of his adult life openly attacking the foundations of Christianity. He has rejected and/or denied many of the foundational doctrines in favor of his own beliefs. He has consistently ignored the calls for humility and repentance made by sound biblical pastors and teachers. He has stubbornly refused to admit any responsibility in the destruction that his heresies and false prophecies have brought to those who trusted him. On top of that, he is completely uncaring in regards to the effect that his shenanigans have had on both the church and those who mock her.

The disillusioned people that followed Camping and trusted him are going to have a hard road ahead. They’re going to have to be shown the truth gently and in love how Camping was wrong and how they were deceived. They will have to hear the love of Christians and be led back to Christ and back to the church. It will be hard, but it is possible. Then there are those who believe they are saved but are not. Some will be confused and others will not even care. The most tragic effect is on those who don’t know God. Many who don’t know God will see Harold Camping as a mainstream Christian and then use his inept and heretical antics as an excuse to paint all preachers, pastors, evangelists, and Christians with the same brush. It will be a simple reason for them to stay away from the church and the only One that can save them…

Then, inside that last group, there are those who actively and aggressively mock and hate God. They already have no desire to have anything to do with Him, but they will (and already have!) take this opportunity to turn others away from the God that they hate. They will dance and sing and mock and laugh at Harold Camping and the God he supposedly represents to justify their rebellious lifestyles.

What does the Bible say about all of this?

In the end, all that matters is what the Bible says. The problem is that Camping has claimed that he has been faithfully saying only what the Bible says. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Camping has ignored many clear biblical admonitions about his actions. Let’s look at a few things then, from a sound biblical perspective.

First, is it possible for anyone (much less a Christian) to know the exact day when Jesus will return? No, it’s not.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (Matthew 24:36)

“It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;” (Acts 1:7)

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. (1 Thess. 5:1-2)

No one is to know when Jesus will return. There is no secret Bible code or formula to use to determine when the day is. Instead, we are to be looking every day for His return. This is why Paul says that there is no need for this to be written to the brethren; they are already looking for Him to return any moment. Knowing that Christ could return at any moment, instead of focusing on the end and what day or hour He is returning, Christians are to be focusing on the fact that HE IS COMING BACK! This is assured in many places in scripture. When He comes back, He will not be a gentle lamb:

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. (Rev. 1:12-17)

When the Lord Jesus returns to earth the second time, it will be to bring judgment on those who have rejected Him. The book of Isaiah says that the blood of His enemies will drench the mountains. This is guaranteed by the Bible, whether we know the exact day or not. The issue then becomes where do you and stand with the Lord?

If you are reading this and you’re one of those who mock God and hate Him, I ask you to consider your ways. The Bible says that it is appointed that man will die once and then he will be judged (Hebrews 9:27). Like every man, woman, and child, you have sinned against God (Romans 3:23). You have lied, stolen, lusted, hated, blasphemed, and had idols in your life. Any ONE of these would be reason enough for a holy, righteous God to send someone to hell for eternity. And I have utter confidence in saying that you’ve committed more than one of these more than once. If you stand before the Lord with your sins unpaid, the Bible says that He will find you guilty of breaking His law and He will cast you into hell for all eternity as payment for those sins. It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not, it is still true and there is nothing you can do to change it. No amount of “good” things will allow you to buy your way into heaven. No amount of prayers will earn you heaven. You stand already condemned (John 3:17-18) because you don’t believe in Jesus. But, there is a way for you to have your sins paid for. You can be cleansed of the guilt and shame that comes with sin and know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going to heaven when you die.

For this to happen, the Bible says that you must repent of your sins. You must acknowledge them, recognize that you deserve to be sent to hell for them and that there is nothing that you can do to free yourself from them. Then, you must turn from them. Turn from all of those things that you know are wrong and cry out to God to save you. Put your full trust in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross to save you from the punishment for the sins you’ve committed. The Bible says that if you do these two things, repent and trust, you will be saved. You will be born again.

If you have never done this, please do it today. You and I aren’t promised tomorrow. You have time with the breath you breathe right now to repent and trust. Please don’t waste it….

This week, we look at the lineage of Shem and follow it to Abram. This may seem like a long list of names to some people, and for many it is a “boring” part that they skip over, but these people don’t understand the importance of having these names here. They connect Abram to Adam, who is connected to Noah, thereby tracing the lineage of the Jewish people to the beginning. The names also give a basis for the actual time man has been around and even the age of the earth. Even though the life spans of many were longer then than they are today, the genealogies of the book of Genesis give a young age for the earth. Some would say that there are spans of time between the names, as if the names listed are just important people and not all of the ancestors. There is no scriptural basis for this belief and it is dangerous because it allows man to add unscriptural, outside beliefs into the Bible (like millions of years and evolution).

As with the times before, we see that this passage starts with the phrase “these are the records of the generations of”. Again, this is an indication that we are narrowing down further in the growing group of people that populate the earth to follow a specific group/family of people. This time, we are going to end with Abram and begin following him. It is important however to look at some of the other people in his line as well. We see that Shem was 100 when he had Arpachshad. Arpachshad’s grandson is Eber. There is some significance to Eber. It is believed that Eber is where the designation Hebrew came for the Jewish people. Eber had two sons, Peleg and Joktan (who isn’t mentioned here but in Gen. 10:25). It was during Peleg’s time on earth that the judgment at Babel was given and the people groups were split by family through the confusion of languages.

We then follow the line of men to Terah, who had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Here again, the phrase “these are the records of the generations of” is used, denoting that we are narrowing it down even further to get to the person of interest. We find out that Haran is the father of Lot, but he died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of Ur, of the Chaldeans. Haran is also the father of Milcah and Iscah. Nahor, Terah’s son, married his niece Milcah while Abram took Sarai, his half sister (Gen. 20:12) as his wife. After the families have been laid out, we are told a special piece of information about Sarai; she’s unable to have children. With this information in hand, we are told that Terah set out with Lot, Abram, and Sarai for the land of Canaan. We aren’t told why they were traveling to that land, and it would be easy to speculate. Did God speak to him like he did Abram? We don’t know. All we know is that Terah left with them and went to Haran. As they stopped in Haran, and settled here. Again, we don’t know why Terah decided not to continue on to Canaan, only that he didn’t. For whatever reason, he stopped at Haran, and it was here that he died. We aren’t given a time frame as to how long Terah and his family lived in Haran, but I don’t think that it was very long.

With his father now gone and his wife and nephew depending on him, Abram is faced with a choice. Does he continue on to Canaan? Does he return to the land of his fathers, Ur of the Chaldeans? Join us next week to find out!

Others are false converts to Christianity who have come to Christ, not for salvation and cleansing of sin, but because they’ve been told that if they “accepted Jesus into their heart” they would have a better life, more money, comfort, peace, happiness, and all the other things that the world seeks. They have accepted Jesus and the plastic, shallow, representation that someone told them He was. He was portrayed as the “genie in the bottle”, and all you have to do is have enough faith and rub the lamp and “genie Jesus” will pop up and grant your wish. When their “genie” doesn’t give them what they want, they reject Him (because they are the one who accepted Him, so they are in control) and they turn their back on their only hope.

The final group are those who are in open rebellion against God. They ask the question as they stand in the depths of their pride and self-righteousness. They don’t really want an answer, they just want to fight against God and those who believe in Him. Some of these people are the most pious, religious people you have ever seen. They do everything according to the rules of their religion. They are militant and aggressive, and they’re wrong. Others are the most anti-religious (on the surface) people you’ve ever met. They have no morals and don’t care. They dive into sin and enjoy the coolness of the muck, not noticing the stench of death that clings to them as well. Both groups would end up red-faced and shouting if they were ever put in the same room and told to defend themselves against the other, but they don’t realize how alike they are.

Actually, there is one more group. This group includes the people who don’t know what Jesus did for them, but truly want to know. In this group you’ll also find those who know what Jesus did for them and every so often ask the question in order to preach the gospel to themselves.

Regardless of what group you’re in, hopefully this blog post will clear things up. With this being the Passion Week and Resurrection Day being this Sunday, I wanted to go through what Jesus has actually done. Hopefully this is scripturally sound and opens the eyes and hearts of all who read it.

If we were going to start talking about what Jesus did for us, it would revolve around what happened during Passion Week, A.D. 32. But, that’s not where this all started. In reality, it started long before the foundations of the earth were laid. In 1 Peter 1:20, Peter writes that Jesus was known before the foundation of the world. This is said in the context of Jesus being the spotless lamb who died for our sins. When Jesus prays for His disciples (those present and those to follow), He says that God loved Him before the foundation of the world. The plan of salvation was in place before the Trinity created anything material. God foreknew that man would sin, and He already had a plan in place. This is why we can see the promise given in Genesis 3 to Adam and Eve that the serpent’s head would be crushed. It was because God had determined the price for salvation and Jesus had already agreed to pay it. And then:

“When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4)

At the exact right moment, God sent Jesus Christ, fully God, to be a human being and enact the plan. The infinite Son of God poured Himself into flesh and became a baby, not losing His divinity/deity, but instead, adding humanity to it. It is this same Jesus that so many mock and deny. Jesus grew up voluntarily living among His creation as a man so that He might redeem us to God the Father. He lived a sinless life for thirty-three and a half years, tempted in all ways as we are but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). In his last three and a half years, He traveled all through Israel calling on men, women, and children to

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17)

Many Jews didn’t want to hear this message, but others did. There were Roman soldiers, Samaritan women, and tax collectors who all got saved by the message of repentance being preached. The blind saw, the lame walked, the mute talked, lepers were healed, and the dead rose (Matt. 11:5/Matt. 15:30/Mark 8:22/John 11:43-45). None of the miracles were what Jesus was hated for. It was for the truth that He spoke. He told his listeners that the Law wasn’t enough (Matt. 5), He called out hypocrites and self-righteous men for their pride (Matt. 23/Luke 12:56). He turned over tables in the temple (Matt. 21:12/Mark 11:15/John 2:14-15) and wasn’t afraid to face those religious leaders who should have known better. There were a few times that they tried to kill Him (Luke 4:29-30/John 7:44), but it wasn’t His time. Eventually, it was time for Jesus to accomplish what He had come to earth to do.

On 10 Nisan, Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem riding a donkey. The people laid down their coats and palm branches, all the while shouting “Hosanna, in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt. 21:9/Mark 11:10/John 12:13). The Pharisees asked Jesus to stop the crowd and Jesus rebuked them. Over the next couple days, Jesus spent His time teaching. He continued teaching the Jews the truth about Himself and of God (Matt. 22:33/Mark 12:38/Luke 21:37). He also taught His disciples more openly about what was to come (Matt. 24/Mark 13/Luke 21/John 16-18).

On the night of the Passover, all was ready and God’s plan would be moved forward. Judas has gone off to make a deal with the Pharisees to betray Jesus (Matt. 24:14-15). Jesus sent a couple disciples ahead to prepare the Passover meal (Mark 11:1). When the night fell, Jesus and His disciples met in the upper room (Luke 22:12). The Lord went around to each disciple and washed his feet (John 13:5-15). He then returned to the table and they continued the Passover mean in remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 3:14). As they reclined at the table, Jesus spoke up and said:

When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” (John 13:21)

The entire group began to ask Jesus if they were the one who would betray Him. They all questioned their heart and their motives (Mark 14:9/Luke 22:23/John 13:22-25). I believe that the commotion was so great that when John lay back and asked Jesus who it was, no one else heard Jesus’ response. Jesus told John that it would be the one that He gave the bread to (Matthew 26:23/Mark 14:20/Luke 22:21/John 13:26). Jesus gives the bread to Judas and Satan enters him (John 13:27). Judas gets up to leave and no one at the table save Jesus and John think anything of it (John 13:29). Judas goes to the priests and sets up the betrayal of Jesus. Jesus and the remaining disciples finish the meal and then get up and head for the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36/Mark 14:32/Luke 22:39/John 18:1). On the way, Jesus continues to teach them about what it means to be His disciple (John 15-16) and He prays for them (John 17).

In the garden, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with Him off to pray. Jesus then goes off by Himself and begins to pray about the events soon to come:

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matt. 26:39)

The pressure of being separated from His Father (something that has never happened before) is so heavy that He begins to sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Three times during His prayer, He rises to find the chosen disciples asleep. He wakes them He rebukes them and warns them:

And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:37-38)

After the third time, Jesus wakes them and tells them that He has been betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matt. 26:45/Mark 14:41-42/Luke 22:53). As they meet up with the remaining disciples, Judas enters the garden with a cohort of Roman soldiers and some temple guards (John 18:3). This is always shown as a small number of guards, but a Roman cohort consisted of at least 600 soldiers! Why did they need so many if Jesus was just a man? Judas walks up to Jesus and gives Him a kiss on the cheek – the sign of betrayal (Matt. 26:47-49/Luke 22:47-48). Jesus asks them who they are looking for. They reply “Jesus the Nazarene”. Jesus responds:

“I am He.“ (John 18:5 – The “He” was added and is not in the original text!)

All 600+ soldiers fall to the ground. When they get up, Jesus asks them again. They respond, and Jesus tells them again that He is the One they’re looking for. As the soldiers seize Jesus, Peter pulls out a sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Jesus rebukes Peter for his actions and heals the servant (Matt. 26:53/Mark 14:47/Luke 22:36-38/John 18:10-11). As the Lord is seized and bound, the disciples scatter (Matt. 26:56/Mark 14:50). Bartholomew is gone, Matthew is gone, Nathaniel is gone, John is gone (for a little while); even Peter, the one who boasted that he would never leave Jesus even if the others left, is gone. Jesus is alone with the soldiers and His betrayer.

Jesus is tied up and they lead Him to the high priest’s house. John follows the group with Peter following behind him. Because John is well known to the high priest’s servants, he is allowed in to the trial, while Peter remains outside (John 18:15). Huddling next to the fire, Peter is accused of being one of Jesus’ followers three times and all three times he denies it. The rooster crows. The men who hold Jesus beat and mock Him. They blindfold Him and hit Him telling Him to prophesy which one of them struck Him. They get to the high priest’s house and put Him on a mock trial. Not one of the testimonies matches any other (Mark 14:55-59). Frustrated, Caiaphas finally just asks Jesus outright, “Are you the Son of God then?” Jesus responds:

“Yes, I am.” (Luke 22:70)

The high priest tears his clothes (Mark 14:63) and says that they do not need anymore witnesses. Again they mock and beat Jesus, but they can’t kill Him. Levitical law says that blasphemers are to die by stoning, but Levitical law isn’t in play here. Now the Romans rule. The priests could mete out a judgment, but they couldn’t follow through with the punishment for it. The priests take Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the governor of this part of Israel (Matt. 27:2). Meanwhile, Judas begins to feel remorse for what he’s done, but he never repents for his sins. He returns the silver to the priests claiming, “I’ve betrayed innocent blood!”. The Bible says that his grief was so much that Judas went out and hanged himself (Matt. 27:5). The priests took the money that they had paid for Jesus’ betrayal and bought the field that Judas died in, which has been called the Field of Blood ever since (Matt. 27:8). Jesus stands before Pilate and is questioned by him. He asks Jesus if He is the king of the Jews, and Jesus responds:

“It is as you say.” (Matt. 27:11)

Meanwhile, the priests are accusing Him of being a blasphemer. Pilate is astonished when Jesus doesn’t respond, but can find nothing wrong with Him. Pilate finds out that Jesus is a Galilean and sends Him to Herod to deal with (Luke 23:7). Herod is beside himself that he will finally get to see the “miracle worker” face to face. Herod begins a long line of questions, but Jesus remains silent (Luke 23:9). Again, the chief priests accuse Jesus of being a blasphemer and a rabble rouser. After he realizes that Jesus is not going to perform for him, Herod and his soldiers mock Jesus, dress Him in a fancy robe, and send Him back to Pilate (Luke 23:11). When they return to Pilate, he reminds the priests and the people that have now gathered that both he and Herod found no fault with Christ (Luke 23:14). He says that he will punish Christ and then let Him go, and he sends Jesus away to be scourged.

They lead Christ to the whipping post, strip Him down, and chain Him in place. The punishment was 39 lashes with a cat-o’-nine-tails. The cat-o’-nine-tails was a whip with a short handle. From the handle came nine straps of leather. Each strap was embedded with bone, glass, pottery, metal, and anything else that would shred the person’s flesh. The Romans had perfected the arts of torture and killing and they spared no feelings on Jesus. They reveled in their beating of the Lord. Each lashing tore into Him and left stinging reminders of why He came to earth in the first place. Even though the punishment was 39 lashes, Christ received 351 (39 times 9). He was so badly beaten that He was barely recognizable as a man, but the Romans weren’t done with Him. Once the scourging was complete, they dressed Him in purple and led Him back to Pilate (Mark 15:17). On the way, they sat Him down, fashioned a crown of two-inch thorns, and forced the crown onto His head. They handed Him a reed and the entire cohort began mocking and bowing, spitting on Him and shouting, “Hail to the king of the Jews!” (John 19:3). Some of the soldiers took the reed from His hand and began to beat Him with it, driving the thorns deeper into His flesh and adding to His already numerous injuries.

Pilate then tells the crowd that he will bring Jesus out to show that he finds nothing wrong with Him. Pilate tries to release Jesus through his usual custom of letting one prisoner go for Passover (Matt. 27:15/Mark 15:8/Luke 23:17). He asks the crowds that have gathered if they want him to release the King of the Jews. He asked this because he knew that the priests brought Jesus to him out of envy (Matt. 27:18/Mark 15:10). The Pharisees stir up the crowd to chant for Barabbas to be released (Matt. 27:17/Mark 15:11/Luke 23:18). Barabbas was a political prisoner, jailed for starting an insurrection as well as murder; but the crowd chose him over Jesus. Pilate then asks what he should do with Jesus. The priests again stir up the crowd, and the same people that shouted “Hosanna in the highest!” now shout, “Crucify Him!” Pilate tells them that they should take Him and crucify Him themselves because Pilate finds no guilt in Him(John 19:6). The Pharisees say that they have a law, and that law says that Jesus must die for He made Himself out to be the Son of God (John 19:7)). Pilate is afraid now and goes back into the Praetorium to talk to Jesus again:

and he entered into the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate *said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:9-11)

After this, Pilate makes more efforts to release Him, but the priests tell Pilate:

“If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.” (John 19:12)

Not wanting another uprising in his region, Pilate sits down on the judgment seat, brings Jesus out to them, and says to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”. They cry out to Pilate that Jesus should be crucified. Pilate asks them, “Shall I crucify your King?” They respond by saying, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15). As Pilate sits on the judgment seat, he receives a message from his wife:

“Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” (Matthew 27:19)

Despite the warning from his wife, Pilate finally gives in to the crowd. He washes his hands in a bowl of water saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood, see to that yourselves.” The Jews respond, “His blood shall be on us and on our children.” (Matt. 27:24-25). After this, Pilate passes judgment and orders the soldiers to take Jesus to be crucified (Luke 23:24/John 19:16). The soldiers strip the purple robe off of Jesus (reopening every wound He had received during the scourging), put his clothes back on Him, and placed on Him a heavy wooden cross (John 19:17). Jesus begins the 600 yard journey from the Praetorium to the place outside Jerusalem called the Hill of the Skull (Golgotha). He almost makes it. Somewhere along the way, Jesus is no longer able to carry the heavy cross and the soldiers press Simon of Cyrene into service to carry it for Him (Matt. 27:32-33/Mark 15:21-22/Luke 23:26/John 19:17). As they made their way to the hill, a large crowd was following Him, the women mourning what was about to happen. Jesus turns to them and says:

“Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ “Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’ “For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28-31)

Two other men were also being led to the hill (Luke 23:32). When they arrive at the hill, they try to give Him wine mixed with myrrh to drink (to deaden the pain), but He refuses it (Matt. 27:34/Mark 15:23). They then laid the cross down on the ground and began to crucify Him. The Roman soldiers had become experts at crucifixion by this time, they had been doing it for 400 years and knew just what to do to make the victim suffer the most without killing them too soon. They stripped Jesus and laid Him out on the cross. Then, taking a nine-inch spike, they pierced His flesh between the two bones of His forearm. Some think that He was pierced through the hands, but I doubt it. I don’t think that the weight could have been held up by His hands. By piercing the area between His two forearm bones, the nail would hold Him up by His wrist (which is still considered part of the hand). Not only that, but by putting the nail here, it would have also pierced a major artery and a major nerve, causing excruciating pain. They then took His other arm and pulled on it to the point that His shoulders became dislocated and then pierced the other arm the same way. They would set the block of wood for His feet and then pierce those as well. There is some talk of whether it was one nail through the top of both feet or two nails, one through each Achilles tendon. Pilate wrote an inscription in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin saying, “This is Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews” (Matt. 27:37/Mark 15:26/Luke 23:38/John 19:19). While the priests dispute this, Pilate says, “I have written what I have written”(John 19:22). After He had been pierced, the cross was raised up and the Son of God hung between heaven and earth for six hours.

Jesus looks down and forgives those who have crucified Him (Luke 23:34). He listens as many people mock and berate Him:

And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. “HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matt. 27:39-43)

He watches as the soldiers gamble for His clothes which is a fulfillment of prophecy (John 19:23-24). He makes sure that Mary, His mother, is taken care of (John 19:26-27). The thieves hanging with Him also hurl insults, but one of them recognizes Jesus for who He really is:

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)

At the sixth hour (noon), darkness fell across the land and lasted for three hours. This was no natural darkness (it is believed that the time was moon was full at this time) for it was over all the earth (Matt. 27:45/Mark 15:33/Luke 23:44). At the ninth hour (3 o’clock), Jesus cries out:

“ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Matt. 27:46/Mark 15:34)

Someone runs and grabs a sponge, dips it into a bowl with sour wine, puts it on a branch of hyssop (interestingly, it was hyssop that was used to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts for Passover), and lifts it up to Him. Jesus drinks of it, and then says:

“Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)

“It is finished!” (John 19:30)

And Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, breathes His last (Matt. 27:50/Mark 15:37/Luke 23:46/John 19:30). When Jesus dies, a number of things happen. The centurion watching the entire scene begins praising God and says:

“Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)

and

“Certainly this man was innocent.” (Luke 23:47)

The veil of the Jewish temple is torn in two from the top to the bottom (Matt. 27:51/Mark 15:38/Luke 23:45). This veil is what separated the holy place from the holy of holies. The holy of holies was only entered once a year and only by the high priest. This was done on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement so that the high priest could make atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel. Anyone else who passed the veil into the holy of holies would die on the spot. The veil being torn in two signifies that it is no longer necessary for man to come to God through the high priest. Now, man can come to God directly through the sacrifice of Christ. The earth also shakes (Matt. 27:51) and tombs around the city are opened and those saints who were once dead are now alive again(Mtt. 27:53-54)! The Sabbath is coming and the bodies cannot stay on the crosses, so the soldiers move to the thieves and break their legs. This was done because those who were crucified didn’t die of the piercings, they died of asphyxiation (suffocation). To take a breath, they would have to push up on their pierced feet, pull up on their pierced arms, and drag their scourged back across the rough cross to take a breath and then they would sink back down. If their legs are broken, they will die faster because they cannot take a breath. When they get to Jesus, they do not break His legs because He is already dead (Mark 15:44-45/John 19:33). They pierce Jesus’ side with a spear to see if He really is dead and water and blood run out of the wound, signifying that His heart had ruptured and He was truly dead (John 19:34-35).

Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin and (secret) follower of Christ goes to Pilate and asks for the body of Jesus. When Pilate finds out that Christ is already dead, he grants the request. Joseph lays it in his own tomb, wraps it in linen strips of cloth, and rolls a stone in front of it (Matt. 27:57-60/Mark 15:43-46/Luke 23:50-53/John 19:38-40). They laid Jesus here because it was nearby. Nicodemus was also there and had brought some spices, but with evening falling, they couldn’t finish the proper burial due to the Sabbath. The women who had been following Jesus were there as well and they saw where the tomb was and how He had been buried. Then, they returned home and prepared more spices for Jesus’ burial (Luke 23:55-56). The next day, the Pharisees come to Pilate and ask that he command the tomb to be guarded because they remember Jesus saying that He will arise in three days. Pilate tells them that they have their own Roman guards and that they should make it as secure as they know how. They set the Roman guards out front and place a seal on the stone (Matt. 27:62-66). To break this seal would be a death sentence, if you could get past the 16 Roman soldiers guarding the tomb to do it.

After the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, go to the tomb to properly prepare Jesus’ body. When they get there, they find that the stone has been rolled away and the body inside is gone. An angel of the Lord had come down and moved the stone away, striking fear into the hearts of the Roman soldiers and causing them to be like dead men (Matt. 28:2-4). As they stand there perplexed, two angels appear to them and tell them:

“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” (Matt. 28:6-7)

Both women run off to tell the disciples what they have seen, but the disciples do not believe them. Peter and John run to the tomb and enter to see that the body is truly gone, but they don’t understand that Jesus has risen yet and return to their homes (John 20:3-10). Mary Magdalene stands there (possibly with the other Mary) weeping as they leave because she cannot find the body of her Lord. She turns to see a man she believes to be the gardener and runs to him asking him where they have moved the body of Jesus. The man respond:

“Mary!” (John 20:16)

Mary finally realizes that this is not the gardener, but Jesus Himself. She weeps with joy and worships Him. He tells her that she is to go and tell the others that she has seen Him and that they should leave for Galilee to meet Him there. From here, scripture says that Jesus appears to them numerous times on different occasions, including being seen by at least 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6).

So, what has Jesus done for you? Well, He has done something that no other person on the planet could ever or would ever do for you. Jesus Christ came down from heaven, lowering Himself to the level of creation. He became a man and suffered as we do, but was without sin. He has gone through the same trials and tribulations we have. He understands what it means to be human (Hebrews 4:15). And then, He went to the cross and died for your sins and mine. He didn’t have to. He chose to. He voluntarily allowed Himself to be beaten, mocked, abused, spit upon, whipped, crucified, and murdered so that He could take the wrath of God for your sins (Romans 5:9). All the lies, the lust, the adultery, the gossip, the theft, the homosexuality – He died for it all. And He died once for all (Hebrews 7:27). The most amazing part of the crucifixion isn’t that Jesus suffered and carried on through the betrayal of His friends, it isn’t that He kept on through the pressure of the crucifixion and the separation from God, it isn’t that He didn’t retaliate when He was mocked or insulted, it isn’t that He survived the whipping, or that He was still alive for the crucifixion, it isn’t even that He rose again (although that is amazing!). The most amazing part of all of this is:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

While you and I live in rebellion to God; shaking our fists at Him and His rules, living in direct opposition to His Law, making ourselves the center of our lives instead of Him, denying Him and who He is; while we’ve done all of this, Christ died for us. He knew that we would hate Him. He knew that we would live in sin, drinking it up like water and helping others to do so. He knew all of this, and even with that knowledge, He died for us. That is what Jesus Christ has done for you, and the Bible says that if you will repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ alone to save you (not your own works), you can be born again (Luke 13:3/Acts 17:30). You can be made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and know without a shadow of a doubt that you will go to heaven when you die. Not everyone will believe. Not everyone will be honest about their own sins. There will be those who mock and laugh, and the Bible says this (2 Peter 3:3-7). But, the Bible also says that there will come a day when Christ will return to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31), and all of those who have repented and believed in Him will be taken to heaven, and all of those who have mocked Him and denied the gracious offer of salvation will be cast into hell, by God Himself.

So, what will you do with what Jesus has done for you? Will you turn away from it thinking that you have plenty of time to do this later? The Bible says that you and I are not guaranteed tomorrow (James 4:13-14). Will you just laugh this off like you have the 15 other times that people have loved you enough to tell you the truth about heaven and hell? Or, will you sober up about your sin, recognize yourself as a sinful wretch in need of a Savior, and cry out to Jesus in repentance and faith? It is my sincere hope that you will do the last, for if you don’t, then any trial that you go through in this life will pale in comparison to an eternity in hell, and I don’t want that to happen to you….

I’ve been a Christian for about 10 years now. In that 10 years, I’ve seen and done a lot of things. Some of those things I wish I could take back. I was a part of the Word of Faith “movement” for awhile. Ignorance isn’t pretty sometimes. By the grace of God, I’ve been drawn out of that and have become sounder in my understanding of scripture. I’ve also been a part of Precept Ministries for about 6 years. When I say “a part”, I don’t work there. What I mean is that I see (and others seem to feel this way too) that those who are involved with Precept on any level are one big family. I know of two or three people that I bug almost constantly with questions and they never seem to mind.

All of this comes to my point very randomly. It seems that it is very easy for Christians to wear everything they believe like a badge. They do this with just about anything really. They do it with their denomination, which version of the Westminster confession (or other confessions) they hold to, they do it with the teachers they follow, and it can even get down to music style or type of service they have. This past week I stopped and began to look at this. From what I see in scripture, there isn’t supposed to be this kind of divisive attitude:

Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. (1 Corinthians 1:10-17)

Here, Paul says that there shouldn’t be divisions, but there are. I’ve heard snide remarks concerning all kinds of different Christians beliefs and ideas. I’ve even seen the kind of separation that Paul talks about here. I’ve seen people argue over whether or not you’re a Calvinist and those that aren’t (or haven’t thought about it, or didn’t know, or don’t really concern themselves with it) are looked down upon. It’s like their saying “I’m of Calvin” and those who aren’t are somehow not as pious. I’ve seen the same thing happen with popular teachers of today’s time (or even of times past). People like John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Paul Washer, Mark Dever, Phil Johnson, and others have had their names brought up in arguments like they are the leader of a completely different sect of Christianity. I doubt that any of them would approve.

I’ve seen arguments where someone will ask a question or point something out to think about and another will respond with a link to what John MacArthur says on the subject. Or they will talk about what R.C. Sproul says about it. Or Calvin, or Luther, or Dever, or any one of a number of other great men and women. My question about this is, should it matter? I am glad to read what any of these men and women say because they are all much, much smarter than I am, but at what point do we stop and look at the scriptures ourselves? When do we become in danger of putting these men/women and their teachings above scripture itself? Do I agree with everything that John MacArthur teaches? Nope. (Some of you may have just started praying for my salvation and that’s ok….I appreciate the thought) Does that mean that I think that everything he teaches is wrong? Nope. I just disagree with him on some things. The same thing goes for the other men listed. None of them got it/get it completely right! Gasp! I know, I have said things that would rile up many people, but these are things that the men above already know. They know that they don’t have everything right. If they did, they would be God, and last time I checked they’re not.

This doesn’t keep people that listen to their teachings from wearing the names of these men like a badge. John Calvin would be appalled at the use of his name in the way it is today because he was a humble man who didn’t want the attention for himself. He didn’t even have his grave marked so that no one would attribute anything to him that he didn’t deserve. Luther was the same way. And, from what I understand of many of today’s great teachers, they would be in agreement with this. So, if that is the view of those men, why isn’t it our own? Why do we continue to wear someone’s name or ideas like a badge? Why are we quicker to throw out something they wrote than what the scriptures say? It doesn’t make sense to me.

While I cannot say the exact reason for every instance of this happening, I can think of a few that might be the case. One reason may be that the people posting the other stuff haven’t studied the scriptures themselves. It is much easier to find ready-made bits of theological argument to toss out instead of doing the work yourself. Another reason may be that they agree with what the other person said. That’s all well and good, and I find myself in this place often enough. But I have tried not to just become another mouthpiece for any man, regardless of how good or respected a teacher they are. I would rather take what they say and compare it to scripture (like the Bereans) in order to make sure that it’s right. I’ve been burned often enough for taking something someone else wrote at face value only to find out later that it is completely wrong.

Instead of wearing someone else’s name as a badge of honor (“I’m in so-and-so’s camp”), shouldn’t we be wearing Christ? Isn’t that what Paul’s main concern was? The people of Corinth were so focused on the divisive nature of the cliques that they completely neglected (or worse negated) the truth of Christ’s gospel that they were supposed to be preaching. They were not preaching the gospel like they should have been. Instead, it was all about who’s group they were in and it was causing divisions. I don’t see how this helps grow, edify, or equip the saints for the work of service. I do see how this can cause people to not come to Christ.

Before someone gets confused or misunderstands me, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t talk about different things. We can even debate some stuff. This is good and it sharpens us. I have debated for years and can be blunt and even harsh sometimes. But, when we debate, we must remember who we’re debating. If we are debating Christians, we must remember that they are our brethren – we aren’t supposed to doggedly attack them because they disagree with us on some things that aren’t foundational. If we are debating non-Christians, then it should be handled with grace so that they might be saved. If we are debating heretics, then we can be a little more forceful, but we must still be careful. If someone is following a heretic out of ignorance, then we must treat them like any other non-Christian and season our speech with grace so that they might be saved from the heresy. If, on the other hand, the person is someone who has heard the truth and has spent much energy denying that truth (especially to the point of teaching others that truth), then we shouldn’t hold back. We should let them know the truth and make it clear that they are heretics. Even this should be done with grace though, and that’s something that I’ve seen missing in much of the ongoing “debates” lately. Again though, I have to say, we have to make sure we understand just who we’re debating with!

In the end, it is the gospel that matters most. It is not wearing other people as a badge or absolutely condemning everyone that disagrees with you even on the smallest points. If we can’t even discuss things among ourselves without having everything meltdown or explode into a flurry of unfair and graceless comments, why do we think that those outside the church are going to be turned from their sins or lead to Christ? They won’t if we’re not presenting Him to them in every way.

I have been guilty of wearing others as a badge and I have gotten better about not doing it. Personally, I couldn’t care less about names. I tend not to like labels very much. It is way to easy to attack others on one point of what they believe instead of their beliefs as a whole. I just want to follow what scripture says, and allow it to change me to be more like Christ. I want that for others too. If I end up wearing someone else as a badge, please forgive me. If I get passionate about some things and forget who I’m talking to, forgive me for that as well. And I’ll try to do the same for my fellow Christians….