Pastoral Ponderings of an Energetic Exegete

God’s Sovereignty Over Satan and It’s Significance

2026-05-30T18:01:47.833-07:00

When it comes to the conflict between God and Satan, we often think of it as a battle between two equals. But such is not the case at all. It is not a fair fight. God always has the upper hand and wins in the end. In fact, He has already defeated the devil with Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection. The head of the serpent has been crushed we could say and the rest of him will be stomped when Christ returns. It is important for us to understand that while Satan indeed is our cunning and dangerous enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), he is limited in what he can do.

He is limited first by being a creature. Satan is not like God. He is not omnipotent or all powerful as God is. He is not omniscient, knowing everything like God does. He learns from careful study and observation of us. Not from reading our inner thoughts. Remember he is a fallen angel. So, he would not know anything more than any other angel or created being for that matter. And he is not omnipresent as God; being everywhere at once. We know this to be the case because when he shows up to the meeting of the angels that took place in Job 1, the devil responds to God’s question of where did he come from or basically, what had he been up to, with “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (v. 7). He had to “roam” and “walk” about on the earth, indicating that he is not every place at the same time. He has to travel to different places much as we do. Probably none of us have had the devil himself torment us or tempt us. More likely, it has been one or more of his demons who “roam” and “walk” about on the earth as well.

Satan is also limited by God’s sovereignty or reign over him. One thing else we notice in Job’s account is that the devil is not able to do anything without God allowing him to. When Satan challenges Job’s faithfulness, claiming that it is only on account of the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon the man that he serves Him, we see God grant the devil permission to affect all his possessions. But He sets a boundary that the devil cannot cross in doing so. That boundary is touching Job himself. He tells him, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand, only do not send forth your hand towards him” (Job 1:12). God certainly had the power to stop Satan from messing with Job’s stuff, servants, and children. He has stopped other evil actions from taking place (Genesis 20:6; 31:7). If God didn’t have the power to stop the devil in anything he does, He wouldn’t be God and Satan would be more powerful than Him which clearly is not the case as seen by Satan’s continual failures to thwart or stop God’s plans. So, it must be said that everything Satan does, God has had to permit him to do so. Then, after Satan literally wrecks all of Job’s possessions and the man still does not sin or give offense to God (v. 22), he challenges God to afflict Job with physical pain, thinking that will cause him to turn against the Lord (2:4-5). Once again, God has to grant the devil permission to attack Job’s health. And, even then, God sets a boundary for the devil that he cannot kill him (v. 6). Likewise, Jesus says to Peter in Luke 22:31, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat.” Notice that Satan had to DEMAND to do this to the disciples. He couldn’t just outright carry it out. God remains in complete control over all things, including the devil and his dastardly deeds. He is subject to God’s sovereign rule as is the rest of creation, though it is unwillingly for him of course.

This is why Martin Luther referred to Satan as being “God’s devil.” God has him basically on a leash, only allowing him to go so far. This doesn’t mean that the devil isn’t dangerous then. A dog on a leash still can bite and do great harm. Nor does it indicate that God approves of everything the devil does and condones his wickedness. As Habakkuk 1:13 says, speaking of God, “Your eyes are too pure to see evil, and You cannot look on trouble.” James also makes this clear, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). However, God does delight to take the evil Satan intends to do and turn it around to bring about the greater good of His purpose. Joni Eareckson Tada points out, “God permits what he hates to achieve what he loves.” We find countless examples of this throughout Scripture. For instance, God’s allowance of Joseph’s brothers to carry out the wicked jealousy of their hearts against him to bring Joseph to a place where he would in essence save his family so that they would be preserved through the famine for the promised seed of the Messiah to still come through them. Joseph even acknowledged such looking back when he told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). We also have Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” he writes about in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Whatever this was, he describes it as being “a messenger of Satan to torment me-to keep me from exalting myself!” (v. 7). Now, here’s the interesting thing. Does Satan want to keep us from exalting ourselves? Of course not! He’s the pinnacle of pride. It’s the very reason he was kicked out of heaven in the first place and arguably his chief characteristic (1 Timothy 3:6). Paul recognized that while Satan was behind this “thorn in the flesh”, God had allowed it in His sovereignty for a different purpose than Satan himself had. God desired to keep Paul humble as it could be so easy for him to become prideful on account of this vision he had of heaven that he just described earlier in the chapter. And the greatest example of this of all would have to be God’s allowance of Satan to enter in Judas Iscariot’s heart to influence him to betray Jesus for Him to go to the cross and save His people (Luke 22:3-4). Surely the greatest good (salvation) being brought about as a result of the greatest evil ever committed (the murder of God’s own dear beloved Son).

What a comfort it is for us to know that God holds the reins over what the devil does and seeks to turn upside down what he intends for evil against us to bring good out of it. As Randy Alcorn has said, “If God can use for good ‘a messenger of Satan,’ then surely he can use for good a car accident or your employer’s unreasonable expectations.” I honestly don’t know how we could ever bear the evils taking place all around us and what we specifically may face without such a truth. If the all wise good and loving God isn’t sovereign over the devil and evil, I would fear any alternative. But, thankfully, we can rest assured that He remains on His throne and is not taken surprise by anything the devil does and is not powerless to stop it or redirect it. And how great is it that He can turn what is meant for evil into good and even permit it to occur in order to be used for His much greater better purposes? Only our God can do that. Which is another reason why He alone deserves our praise and worship. This truth should bring us to our knees in humility and trust of Him, especially when dealing with the devil and his evil in this world.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Matthew 25:31-46 A Litmus Test for Salvation?

2026-05-13T21:37:47.425-07:00

For a little bit now, we have been looking at several commonly misunderstood and misapplied verses or passages in the Bible to seek to understand what they actually mean so that we don’t fall prey to those misunderstandings and misapplications ourselves (or continue to hold to any of them if we already have). It is my hope that such has been a benefit to you. Before we turn the page from this series of articles (and there are so many others we could continue with!), I want to look at one more that seems to be making the rounds a lot today. I’ve been especially hearing it in political debates over certain policies. The passage is Matthew 25:31-46 regarding the final judgment where Jesus speaks of Himself separating the nations into two groups at His return. He compares this to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats and putting one group on one side of Him with the other on the opposite (v. 32). The ones in the position of the sheep are invited to come into God’s kingdom that they have inherited and which has been prepared for them (v. 34). Those in the place of the goats on the other hand will be told to depart from Jesus to go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (v. 41). These represents believer who will enter into eternal life and unbelievers who will undergo eternal punishment (v. 46). And Jesus points out that the major characteristic of those on the right who are welcomed into the kingdom are that they fed, gave drink, housed, clothed, and visited Him when sick and in prison (vv. 35-36). When they question when they had done that, He points out that it was whenever they had done it to the least of His brothers that they had done it to Him (v. 40). On the other hand, the ones on the other side are characterized has not having done the same to Jesus because they did not do such to the “least of these” (vv. 42-45).

Often, this passage is taken to be speaking of the need to care for the poor. Or, it is argued that this teaches that the treatment of the poor is what matters most to Jesus, above and beyond any other concerns. I even heard a politician recently say that this treatment of the poor is what we will be judged and saved by! Is that what this passage actually says? Not when we look at the details of it in light of what the rest of Scripture teaches.

The first thing we need to understand here is that this passage is NOT speaking about the poor, needy, and suffering GENERALLY of the world but of other Christians in PARTICULAR. Jesus is clear in the passage that He specifically refers to "these brothers of Mine" (v. 40). Who would Jesus' brothers be? Earlier in chapter 12 where His biological brothers and mother are reported as wanting to see Him, He points out that it is His disciples who are such. "But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And stretching out His hand towards His disciples, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:48-50). The same is the case in Matthew 23:8 and 28:10. Also, when Jesus talks about "the least of these" in other contexts, He usually refers to His disciples. We see this in Matthew 18:6, 10. The ones which He speaks of that the sheep fed, gave drink, housed, clothed, and visited are persecuted believers who are in great need and suffer on account of that persecution. Some of which will be put in prison on account of their faith.

There are two points Jesus is making in this parable: One is that Jesus is so connected with His people that however you treat them can be said to be how you treat Him. That’s seen in Him equating Himself with His needy followers that whatever was done or not done to them is the same as if it were done or not done to Him. This has something to say to those who think that they can have Jesus while having nothing to do with His church. He so much identifies with the church that to neglect the church is in essence to neglect Him. At least, that’s the way He takes it. We notice this as well when He appeared to Saul also known as Paul on the way to Damascus. He didn’t ask him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My church?” or “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My followers, disciples, or people?” No. Instead, it was, “Saul, Saul, why are You persecuting Me” (Acts 9:4, emphasis mine). According to Jesus, to persecute Christians who belong to His church is to persecute Him. So, however you treat believers is also how you treat Jesus.

The second point made in this parable is how you treat God's people reveals whether you have saving faith or not because true faith will result in a love and affection towards Christ's followers leading you to care for and serve them. Jesus can’t be indicating that doing such makes you saved or earns you salvation because the Bible is clear that our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and not by any works whatsoever we have done or could ever do (Ephesians 2:8-9). To turn the treatment of believers into factoring into the basis of our salvation, even in the slightest, would be to contradict everything else Scripture says about our salvation. This evaluation by our Lord of the two groups the nations can be divided into is not to DETERMINE who is a sheep or goat but to DEMONSTRATE the identity of each. It is best to see the treatment of those in Christ's family as being FRUIT or evidence of one who has been saved by God's grace alone through their faith alone rather than the ROOT or cause of such. A true believer will demonstrate their faith by caring for other believers and seeking to minister to them when they are in need. The unbeliever without faith would not have such concern because they wouldn't view them as their own family.

Now, does this mean that we should not be concerned for the poor, needy, and suffering of this world or neglect to do good to them? Absolutely not! Just that this passage is not speaking of such here and should not be used to guilt people into supporting or not supporting a particular political position. The question for us from this passage is not "Are we tangibly caring for the poor and suffering of the world?" but "What is our relationship to the church, God's people, and what does that say about our faith?" We can talk about the importance and need to help the poor from another passage that actually deals with such. But this passage is not that and therefore shouldn’t be treated as if it does.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Passages: The True Giant-Slayer in 1 Samuel 17

2026-03-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

It’s a story just about all of us are familiar with. Many of us have heard it since we were little in Sunday School. We can think back to the Bible storybooks read to us early on and seeing the pictures of the small shepherd boy with the sling and stone in his hand standing in front of the towering giant of a man. It quickly became my son John’s personal favorite Bible account. And no matter how old we are now, it continues to capture our attention whenever we hear or read it again. Of course, I’m talking about the beloved, wonderful, and unforgettable narrative of David and Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17. How many sermons have we heard or books read that encourage us to be like David and defeat the giants in our lives with just a small stone of faith? Or to discover the champion in you to slay the giants of worry, fear, doubt, bitterness, ingratitude, and a host of other things? Some have even gotten creative to take the five stones and connect them to five ways you can go about killing such “giants” you may face. I admit that’ll preach. It has! The only problem is, it is not the point of the passage at all. And to apply it in such a way actually winds up missing it’s much greater point with the far better application it holds for us. So, what’s the story of David and Goliath really all about?

First, we have to realize that this is not a showdown between the man David and the giant Goliath. Oh, it’s much more than that! Goliath curses David “by his gods” in v. 43 and David acknowledges that he comes in the Lord’s name and not his own (v. 45). He states it will be God who delivers the giant into his hands so that all will know that He is God who does not save by sword or spear and that the battle is His instead (vv. 46-47). The author of the account even appears to go out of his way to emphasize Goliath’s mocking or derision of God’s people which is a mocking or derision of God Himself who the people belong and the defender of them (vv. 10, 25, 26 (2x), 36, 45). So, this actually is between the one true God Yahweh and the false gods of the Philistines. Like was seen in the Exodus with God defeating the so-called gods of the Egyptians with the plagues He brought upon them (Exodus 7-12; 12:12 in particular), His making the statue of the Philistine god, Dagon, in their own temple fall down to “eat the dust” as the serpent (1 Samuel 5:3-4; Genesis 3:14) and later with Elijah on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). In every single one of these cases, God shows Himself supreme and utterly defeats the gods which do not exist. This is not the defeat of and victory over Goliath by a small shepherd boy as it is the defeat of and victory of the false gods of the Philistines by Yahweh God Himself. He just used the weakness of David to show His mighty strength as He loves to do (1 Corinthians 2:27-29; 2 Corinthians 12:9).

The real battle here actually goes back much farther than David and Goliath and points into the future of something much greater to take place. To truly understand what’s going on, we have to go all the way back to the book of Genesis. To Genesis 3:15 to be exact. What is known as the first proclamation of the gospel. When God is delivering His declaration of judgment upon the serpent for the role he played in leading Adam and Eve to sin, He said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Basically, there will be war between the serpent and the woman from this point on that will continue throughout the generations to come. That is until one specific descendant of the woman will defeat the serpent (bruise him on the head) even though the serpent will temporarily wound him (bruise him on the heel). Precisely what will take place with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Satan will wound him in the role he plays with His death but it proves not to be fatal as seen in His resurrection. And, through such, He defeats the devil. All of the Bible can be said to be the unfolding of this prophecy. If it helps, you can think of this as the thesis statement of the Bible. When I was in college and seminary, my professors required me to have a thesis statement in every paper I wrote. A short summary in one or two sentences that stated what I intended to argue in the paper. (As you can imagine, I always struggled with these. I’ve never been good at being concise as my sermons and newsletter articles often attest to!) This means that the story of David and Goliath must be read in light of this promise. We must ask ourselves then how this connects to the storyline of the ongoing war between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan pointing forward to that one Seed who will ultimately defeat him.

You see, David not only was chosen by God to be anointed king but also to continue the line of THE anointed king, the Messiah, and establish His royal linage (2 Samuel 7:12-16). And there are several parallels to note between the two kings that God in His providence must have orchestrated so that David and his activity serve as a type or shadow of who Jesus would be and what He would do to redeem us from our sin. This was to help the people recognize Him when He came. For instance, both are shepherd-kings born in Bethlehem who can be said to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Jesus says in John 10 that He is the good shepherd and earlier that the Father has given those who belong to His flock to Him. Both are unimpressive by the world’s standards. David was viewed as the least likely to be king among his brothers. So much so his own father did not call him in from the field for consideration when Samuel came to anoint one of them king (1 Samuel 16:11). His brothers and King Saul never expected him to come out on top facing this giant (17:28, 33). Isaiah 53:2 tells us of Jesus, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him.” Nathaniel at first couldn’t believe that anything good could ever come from Nazareth where Jesus was raised (John 1:46). They both possess a zeal for God and concern for His glory. That is what led David to step up to accept Goliath's challenge in the first place (1 Samuel 17:26, 36). Certainly, that is true of Jesus as the disciples recognized after witnessing Him overturn the tables in the temple (John 2:17). They both endured contempt by their brothers. Jesus’ own brothers at first did not believe in Him and thought Him to be crazy (John 7:5). None of David’s brothers thought him serious to take on Goliath. David and Jesus were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16; Isaiah 62; Luke 4) and both are said to “come in the name of the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:45; Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9).

And Goliath doesn’t resemble our pride, lust, fear, failure, or any of the things he often is connected to but that sinister snake who first appeared back in the garden of Eden. Like him, the giant is the enemy of God and His people. He pridefully mocks and derides God. (Again, a major emphasis in this account.) And, perhaps even more striking, is the fact that we are told that Goliath’s armor in Hebrew is actually described as being “scale-armor.” What animal has scaly skin? A snake, right? And of all the places that stone could have hit on that mammoth of a man, God has it go smackdab in the middle of his forehead. Certainly no coincidence! Remember that prophecy in Genesis 3:15? Where was it the Seed of the woman is said to bruise or crush of the serpent? His head. Jesus later defeats the devil not with five smooth stones but two planks of wood and three nails. And just as David used Goliath’s own weapon to finish him, it could be said that Jesus used Satan’s own weapon of death to defeat him. This is a picture of the gospel in miniature. A coming preview if you will of the greater work David’s greater Son would do against the devil himself.

Here’s the true application for us today from this story. Jesus has already defeated the giant who opposes and mocks Him and His people. We can be confident that we share in that victory if we belong to Him through faith like the Israelites shared in David’s victory as their champion. You see, what we need is not to be strong and brave like David but to have Jesus as our champion. Don’t try to fight the giant yourself! He is too big and too strong. You don’t stand a chance against him! Rather, we must trust in the One who has already defeated him. Who knocked him down with His death and resurrection and will come to finish the job chopping his head off so to speak when He returns.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Jesus is Knocking . . . But at the Wrong Door . Revelation 3:20

2026-02-24T11:43:00.000-08:00

It is a very popular verse to use in evangelistic messages. Many a pastor has quoted it at the end of their sermon to appeal to any unbelievers present in the congregation to receive Christ. Several of us can picture in our minds the painting which has Jesus standing at a door without any handle from the outside and having His fist in the air as if He were patiently knocking on it. The verse is Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” It is clear here that Jesus certainly is knocking on a door. The only problem is that the way it is often used and applied has Him knocking at the wrong door! Hence why I include this verse as one of those “Inigo Montoya passages”: “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

As always, context is the key. When we look at the verses surrounding this one, we discover that Jesus is not knocking on the door of an unbeliever’s heart hoping that he or she just might finally let Him in. No. It is a door of a church. And not just any church at that but a very lukewarm one which is described as being neither cold or hot in relation to the Lord leading God to desire to spit them out of His mouth just like people did of the dirty water of the city there (vv. 15-16). It was a very prideful worldly church thinking that they were doing well and had all that they needed only to be ignorant of their true poor and needy spiritual condition (v. 17). This was the church of Laodicea. One of seven churches Jesus has John write a letter to at this time. Jesus even explicitly specifies at the end of the letter that this message is what “the Spirit says to the churches” (v. 22). So, this is not a call for unbelievers to be saved but a group of believers to repent and be renewed again in their zeal for the Lord (v. 19). This church had become so preoccupied with other things that they had in essence pushed Jesus out of the congregation with Him now being on the outside so to speak knocking to be let back in!

Some believe that Jesus here may be alluding to Song of Solomon 5:2 where the husband there knocks on the door of the bedroom to encourage his wife to let him in and continue to express her love for him. If Jesus did indeed intend to direct us to that picture, He could be showing that the same thing is happening with them. He is there as their husband knocking for them to open the door and express their love for Him once again. That love which had become so putridly lukewarm. It could also be connected to the parable Jesus told of slaves who were waiting eagerly for the return of their master from a wedding to open the door to him immediately when he comes back and knocks. The master then will have them sit at the table with him serving them (Luke 12:36-37). This is very similar to the image Jesus gives to this lukewarm church of Laodicea. Jesus may be reminding them that His coming is very near so they better be ready to let Him in. And the only way to do that would be to answer His call to repent of their worldly lukewarmness and self-righteous self-sufficiency (Revelation 3:19).

Rather than this being an evangelistic plea, it serves as a warning to believers in the church today. For us to guard against becoming lukewarm in our devotion to the Lord and succumbing to the thinking that we are something spiritually when we are not. To entertain the thought that we have what we need on our own and no longer need Christ when the reality is that we are nothing without Him (Romans 7:18), have nothing without Him (1 Corinthians 4:7), and can do nothing without Him of any value for His kingdom (John 15:5). The last thing we should want is for it to appear that Jesus is on the outside needing to be back in to dine or fellowship with us.

Furthermore, nowhere in Scripture are we ever told that Jesus is simply standing outside the door of our hearts patiently knocking hoping we might just let Him in. In fact, it actually is the opposite. Luke tells us that it was the Lord who opened up Lydia’s heart to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14). He didn’t wait for her to open up her own. If He doesn’t open our heart, we would never let Him in. He certainly wasn’t patiently knocking on the door of Paul’s heart when He confronted the man on the road to Damascus and dramatically changed and transformed him (Acts 9:3-7). We are never instructed to open our heart to let Jesus in. But we are continually, over and over again throughout the pages of Scripture, called to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (Mark 1:15; Acts 2:38; 20:21; 26:20). That should be the evangelistic appeal for us to make. Not one that hadn’t been given to unbelievers in the first place. I’m not even sure it is helpful to direct unbelievers to ask Jesus into their heart for that matter. What does that even mean? And can that be done without repentance and genuine faith in Christ which alone saves? I think the many who have done so without bearing any fruit of repentance and persevering living faith which results in works (Matthew 3:8/Luke 3:8; Matthew 13:8, 23; James 2:14-26) provides the evidence that it indeed can be without such and give a countless number a false assurance of their salvation which they do not possess. I’m not saying that someone who has prayed to ask Jesus into their heart isn’t necessarily saved. Just that it wasn’t from them doing or asking such. It would have been through coming to Him with an attitude of repentance and placing their trust in Him alone to serve as their Savior and Lord. I probably prayed a dozen or more times to ask Jesus into my heart in my youth before I realized what repentance and faith really meant and looked like. And it was that repentance and faith that actually made the difference.

So, the questions we should be asking ourselves are as follows: “Have we pushed Jesus out of our fellowship so to speak where He is left outside knocking to come back in?” “How may we have become lukewarm or began to be such like the church Jesus stood knocking at?” And “What can we do to ensure that this doesn’t happen to our congregation as well as us as individuals?” Remember the blessed promise of restored fellowship He gives to this church as well as any others who allow themselves to grow lukewarm in their affection for Him. “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him to and will dine with him, and he with Me.” As G. Campbell Morgan well said, “The only cure for lukewarmness is the re-admission of the excluded Christ.”

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Does God Promise Not to Give Us More Than We Can Handle? 1 Corinthians 10:13

2026-02-10T06:22:00.000-08:00

How many times have you had someone tell you when you are feeling overwhelmed to remember that God promises not to give us more than we can bear? Or that God must think you are so strong for Him to allow you to go through the difficult time or trial at the moment? They may even quote 1 Corinthians 10:13 to go along with it. “No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” All this is said as a well-meaning attempt to be encouraging and make someone feel better about their present situation or circumstances. The only problem is: 1) it is not true, and 2) it is not what that Scripture even says. Such has become another one of those “Inigo Montoya passages;” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

The first issue with these supposedly comforting words is that they simply are not true. God doesn’t promise anywhere in Scripture that He will not give us more than we can handle. In fact, the opposite is typically the case. Everything we face in life is too much for us to bear in our own strength and might. Even the Apostle Paul confesses in 2 Corinthians 1:8 that he and his travel companions faced such struggles during their time in Asia that they “were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even to live.” Sounds to me that he thought himself to be given more than he could bear or handle there. So much so it made life itself a chore or difficult for them to carry on. The Bible never teaches that we are strong enough to bear the weight and burdens of this life ourselves. Jesus made it clear that “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This is why we sing, “I must tell Jesus all of my trials; I cannot bear these burdens alone; In my distress He kindly will help me; He ever loves and cares for His own.” Our hope lies not in our strength and what we are able to carry but in Christ’s strength and what He can help us with. Without Him, we don’t stand a chance making it through whatever trial or trouble comes at us. The fact of the matter is that even the young “grow weary and tired” and “stumble badly” (Isaiah 40:30). We need the One who Himself “does not become weary or tired” to give us weary people His power and might so that we can “mount up with wings like eagles; run and not get tired; walk and not become weary” (vv. 28-29; 31).

It’s actually discouraging to tell someone that they have been given what they can bear or are strong enough to handle it. Because that encourages them to look to themselves for the ability to face the difficulty when they should be directed to Jesus instead. To recognize that what they can’t do, He can. The reason Paul gives for being put in the place where he got to the point of being so completely drained of his strength that he despaired of life itself was “so that we would not have confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). It very well may be that God’s purpose in giving us more than we can bear is so that we have to look to Him for the necessary strength to endure it instead of inside of us as Paul reports God did with him.

The truth of the matter is not that God will not give us more than we can bear but that we will never be given more than His grace is sufficient to help us in our time of need. Paul learned this as well when he was begging the Lord to remove the painful annoying persistent “thorn in the flesh” as he refers to it in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8. He doesn’t specify what this thorn was but clearly it was something he felt he could not bear and wanted rid of. And while God doesn’t answer His prayer in the way he asked it, He reminds him of the blessed and glorious truth that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). Perhaps that would be a better verse and encouragement to give to that believing friend or family member who is struggling right now. Not that he or she has the strength to handle whatever it is but that the reality is that they do not but God’s grace will prove sufficient to get them through the trial and His power will be demonstrated in their weakness.

Now, what about that 1 Corinthians 10:13 passage? What does it really say and mean? Well, when you read it carefully, you will see that it is not talking about God giving us ANYTHING more than we can bear generally but only that of being TEMPTED specifically. The promise is that God in His sovereignty will not permit us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist. It is almost as if He is holding back the tide of temptation that wants to mount itself against us to drown us and filtering through His hand so to speak just enough that we can withstand it. And God shows His faithfulness also in providing the way of escape so that we don’t have to ever give into the temptation. There is always an off ramp with Jesus for all the temptations we may ever face. We can look to Him and flee from it, whatever the temptation might be. That’s the encouragement this verse gives us in our fight against sin. That temptation is not an insurmountable foe for us that will always win. Let’s be sure to use the verse to provide this encouragement rather than discouraging others (and ourselves) by pointing them to themselves for what it takes to get them through their trials instead of outside and away from themselves to Christ. He is the One we need to make it through every trial and withstand each temptation. We must continually look to and rely on Him.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

The Harsh Reality of Hell

2025-12-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

Kirk Cameron, who many may remember as Mike Seaver in the sitcom “Growing Pains” several years ago or more recently from the movie, “Fireproof,” and now is known for his work in apologetics and evangelism, has just caused a bit of a stir in indicating that he is entertaining the idea of “annihilationism.” This is the belief that an unbeliever’s soul and body are completely destroyed in hell after which they will cease from existence rather than them continuing there for all eternity in a state of conscious everlasting torment without any relief. Such is not a new teaching as there have been prominent evangelicals who have held to it in the past like John Stott whom you have heard me quote from time to time. And, perhaps even more concerning, are the number of cults which promote this kind of teaching such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Christadelphians, and Armstrongism with the Worldwide Church of God (though some modern groups of such thankfully no longer hold to this view). That itself should really give anyone pause before accepting this view. But what ultimately matters is not what our favorite entertainer, podcaster, social media influencer, or even preacher says about hell. It is what God’s Word says. And when we turn to the Bible on this issue, we find that God does not stutter or whisper about the harsh reality of hell.

In all of the various passages of Scripture which reference or speak of hell, we find a pretty consistent picture of a horrifying place where unrepentant unbelievers will endure unbearable torment forever. At the end of the book of Isaiah, probably the first place in the Bible to explicitly provide us with a description of the topic, we read, “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an object of contempt to all mankind” (66:24). The idea of their specific worm not dying and the fire for them not being quenched clearly seem to indicate that this judgment will be eternal and unending. If the maggots which feed on their bodies are not going to be annihilated at this time what does that say about their bodies itself? Also, the fact of the fire not being quenched by their presence must mean that they are not burning up where the fire would be put out because it has nothing else to burn. Later, the prophet Daniel will lay out the two opposite destinies of humanity. One for believers who have been declared righteous in Christ and the other for nonbelievers who refuse to repent. He says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.” Notice that both are described as experiencing something everlasting. For the believer, it is “everlasting life” and the unbeliever “everlasting contempt.” Nothing about there being a ceasing from this contempt. It will continue just as long as the life the believer is promised to receive. Revelation 14:9-11 tells us, “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘if anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be TORMENTED with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their TORMENT goes up FOREVER AND EVER; THEY HAVE NO REST DAY AND NIGHT, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Seems pretty clear to me that there is no end to the conscious torment those who choose to worship the beast and are marked as belonging to him will endure. They very well may wish to be annihilated in order to have such a rest that this place will not afford them. That’s how terrible this punishment is going to be! Likewise, we are told that all who will be thrown into the lake of fire “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10, 15).

We can also look at what the premier preacher of hell Himself has said about the topic. Jesus spoke more about hell than He did heaven. And as with any other of His teachings, He did not mince words about it. He likewise described it as a place of everlasting torment in fire. “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the FIERY hell” (Matthew 5:22). “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE” (Mark 9:43). He even quotes Isaiah 66:24 referenced earlier about how the worm of the wicked will not die and the fire they are in will not be quenched (Mark 9:48). In the picture of hell in Jesus’ parable of the talents, the place is portrayed as being in “outer darkness” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). A clear image of those who reside there being fully conscious and aware of the pain and agony experienced by hell’s fiery flames. They would not be weeping and gnashing their teeth otherwise. This is seen as well in the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). While we certainly want to be careful not to develop any major doctrine solely from a parable, it says something that Jesus had the rich man in the place representing hell to cry out to Abraham “being in torment” “in agony in this flame” for just a drop of water to provide him some relief (vv. 23-24). And when Jesus returns and separates the sheep (His true followers demonstrating their faith in how they treated His other followers who were in need) from the goats (those who did not belong to Him through faith and their neglect of His people demonstrated such), He will say to the goats, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ETERNAL lake of fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). They will go into “eternal punishment” while believers (the righteous in Christ) into “eternal life” (v. 46). Once again, we see the parallel contrast between the punishment and life. The duration of such being the same. If life is eternal without end for the righteous, so must the punishment be for the unrighteous. The word for “punishment” here as well was used elsewhere for the great physical suffering or torture that Christians experienced under persecution. Something they clearly felt and were aware of. Those in hell will both feel and be aware of a far greater punishment there without end.

Even the very word Jesus often used to refer to hell communicates all this. He would call it “gehenna” which was an actual trash dump outside of Jerusalem that was constantly burning. It is said that dead bodies of criminals and animals were burned there. Jesus certainly could have chosen any other word to paint a picture of hell but thought that the best to illustrate it.

Now, what about all those places where it speaks of unbelievers “perishing” or being “destroyed” in hell? We all know John 3:16 and many of us have it memorized. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that all who believe in Him shall not PERISH, but have everlasting life.” Then we have Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to DESTROY both soul and body in hell.” Don’t these indicate some sort of annihilation or end to their punishment? Taking by themselves, it certainly seems to. And those who hold to such a position like to point to verses like these to prove their point. However, we have to read these in light of the clear passages speaking of the eternal torment of the judgment we have just looked at. Somehow they must be reconciled with them and there can’t be any contradiction since all of them are God’s Word and He cannot contradict Himself. It helps to recognize that the Greek word used for “destroy”, “apollumi,” does not necessarily, or even in most of its contexts, indicate annihilation or a complete cessation from existence. Often it is used in the sense of death. And death does not mean a ceasing of existence but more so a separation. A separation physically of the spirit from the body as seen with the description of Rachel’s soul departing at her death (Genesis 35:18) and spiritually of a separation or alienation from God (Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:18). The last of which can certainly continue for all eternity in hell. The word also is used in other contexts to describe something that is lost such as a sheep, a coin, or a son (Luke 15:4, 6, 8, 9, 24) and the necessity of losing one’s life in order to find eternal life (Matthew 10:39; Luke 17:33; John 12:25). The word is used as well in the sense of the ruining of an old wineskin when new wine has been poured into it (Mark 2:22). So, the talk of “perishing” or being “destroyed” in hell could just as much be speaking of one being ruined, lost, and dying for all eternity. As the Puritan Thomas Watson put it, “The wicked shall be always dying-but never dead.”

Though different words for “destruction” are used in Philippians 3:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; and 2 Peter 3:7 to speak of the final destiny of the wicked, none of them have the absolute meaning of annihilation either. In fact, there are occurrences of them which clearly do not. For instance, the Greek word, “apoleia,” in Philippians 3:19 and 2 Peter 3:7 is also used by the disciples in Matthew 26:8 to speak of the “waste” they saw of the ointment which had been just poured upon Jesus’ head. That ointment did not cease to exist at that moment. It would have still been running down Jesus’ face and clothes. But it had been “destroyed” in the sense that it could no longer be used for any other purpose. Furthermore, the Greek word in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “olethros,” likewise does not refer to a ceasing of something no longer to exist as Paul uses the same term in 1 Corinthians 5:5 of the unrepentant sinner he called for the congregation to kick out of the church for his gross and heinous sexual immorality. He says that the man was to be delivered over to Satan “for the destruction of his flesh.” Whether “flesh” refers to his physical body or sinful nature, neither one were annihilated or ceased to exist after being excommunicated. Again, the idea is that of no longer being of value or use or “existing in their original, intended state” as New Testament scholar Douglas Moo points out. Those who refuse Christ and continue in their sin can expect an eternity of ruin and waste, not life and fulfilment.

Some will say that an eternal unending punishment of torment in hell would not be fitting for the crime of our finite sins. That such would be rather extreme for our limited number of sins committed in this life. Some may even go so far to claim that this would be a cruel and unjust punishment for sin. However, that kind of reasoning fails to realize the serious nature of our sin against our holy God who has been nothing but good to us. Our sins are not just against anyone but against the sovereign Lord of the universe who has given us everything that we have. That makes even the smallest infraction against His holy law worthy of the worst form of punishment ever can be imagined. This is illustrated by a conversation a man had in another country with his taxi driver. The man who was a Christian, found out that the driver believed he would only suffer in hell for a little while to pay for his sins and then go to heaven after that. In his own estimation, he hadn’t done that many bad things after all. To get his point across, the man asked the taxi driver what he would do if he slapped him right there and then. The taxi driver said he would throw him out of the taxi. He then asked what would happen if it were some random guy on the street he slapped. The taxi driver told him that he would be probably be beat up by the guy and his friends. Next, he asked about the case if it was a police officer. The taxi driver said he would be thrown into jail. Finally, the man inquired about what the situation would be like if it was the king of that country he had slapped. The taxi driver nervously laughed and exclaimed, “you would die.” The same crime in each case but the status, value, and worth of the person he was committing it against carried with it a greater penalty. There is no one greater we can sin against than God. Therefore, there is no less of a punishment those who remain in their sins could expect to receive than the maximum possible which would be an eternity of such.

Furthermore, there is a sense that the sinners in hell never stop sinning for their punishment ever to end. Since they have never repented of their sins, they continue to bear the guilt of every one of them. Also, while in hell, they still will have their sinful rebellious thoughts and attitudes towards God. None of that will ever stop. In fact, it very well might be even worse as any restraints they had on this earth will not be present there. Keep in mind that the wicked spoken of in the book of Revelation who have the terrible plagues of God’s judgment poured down upon them keep refusing to repent and still blaspheme God (Revelation 16:9, 11, 21). If their sinning doesn’t stop, neither should the punishment.

We can certainly understand why some people may want to soften this harsh reality of hell by making it seem a little less severe by having the punishment come to an end. But we can’t go against or contradict what Scripture has to say about hell. It is meant to be a hard pill to swallow and gut-wrenching every time we read or hear about it. Such is the seriousness of our sins and what we all justly deserve from our holy God. And it should make us run to Christ and the cross for our salvation from it, glorifying His great love, grace and mercy to rescue us from it. It also should move us even more to share the gospel with our unsaved loved ones, knowing that this is what will await them if they do not repent and turn to Christ now. It is not a punishment that they will ever get any relief from and one which will not end. We certainly don’t want any of them to ever experience that. So, let’s make sure none of them go there without having to step over us and our many warnings.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misquoted and Misapplied Verses: The Christmas Story

2025-11-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

Since we have been looking at a number of the most commonly misquoted and misapplied verses in the Bible the past several newsletter articles, I thought it only be appropriate to focus on those involving the account of Christ’s birth this month since Christmas is on its way. We could call these the “Inigo Montoya verses” of Christmas. “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Many of these misunderstandings have been perpetuated for years through film adaptations, plays, pageants, songs, and several sermons of well-meaning pastors. As always, our goal is to go back to Scripture to see what it actually says so that we don’t fall prey to some of these misinterpretations. Or to correct any we may already unwittingly hold to.

No Room in the Inn? How many times have you heard about the cold-hearted inn-keeper who could not, or would not, find any room for Jesus? He is pictured at the doorway shaking his head "no" and pointing Mary and Joseph away from there. And the countless sermons which have been preached about how we should not be like Him but instead to make room in our hearts for Jesus? However, the only problem with this is that there probably wasn't an inn-keeper. That’s because it wasn't an inn they were turned away from. The Greek word used for this place in Luke 2:7 is not the one typically for an inn but rather a guest room in someone's home. In the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34 where Jesus speaks of the Samaritan taking the man ambushed and beaten by the robbers to an inn, a different word is used in the Greek. This same word though is found in Luke 22:11 regarding Jesus instructing His disciples to ask for the guest room of the man's house for holding the Passover meal. It was common during a census in that day where one would have to travel back to their hometown for relatives in the area to host them in their homes. More likely, this was the home of one of Joseph's relatives who unfortunately had all of their guest rooms filled up by others who needed a place to stay while in for the census. The best that they could do was to have them stay in the cave next to the house with all of the animals.

The Birthplace of Jesus. Here's another misquoted and misunderstood part of the Christmas story by the way. The idea that the birth occurred in a stable. It was typical back then for the animals to be housed in a cave next to a person's home. Don't think of Jesus' first earthly accommodations being a nice size modern day barn with a roof and door. Picture a dark, damp, smelly cave instead. Even more of a humble scene of our Lord's entering into this world.

Hark! the Herald Angels SAY? A Christmas Carol we love to sing, and my personal favorite I might add, is "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing." This is probably the most theologically deep and accurate older hymn of our Lord's birth. The writer, Charles Wesley, really did his homework! But when you read Luke's Gospel concerning the angels appearing to the shepherds that first Christmas night, you don't find it telling us that this multitude of angels were SINGING "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." But they were SAYING this (2:13). While it is certainly a possibility that these angels were indeed singing these words, Luke doesn't explicitly say that. We don't know for sure. Praising and singing do go together but the Bible shows us that there are more ways of praising God than just singing to Him. That is one among a number of them. Of course, "Hark! the herald angels say" doesn't rhyme as well with "glory to the newborn king." (Please know that I am not trying to ruin or pick on any of your favorite Christmas Carols. I only want to be biblical. I will still gladly join you in singing this one loudly throughout the month!)

The Appearance of Angels. While we're on the angels, isn't it interesting that in just about every Christmas play and pageant, they are portrayed by girls instead of boys? Yet, every angel we ever encounter in the pages of Scripture has male pronouns. And the only ones we have the names of are masculine ones; Gabriel and Michael. Maybe women just appear to be more angelic than men do. (I won't go any further with that!) And don't get me started with the little cute cherubs and their tiny exposed bottoms. I don't have any idea where they came from but I know it wasn't from Scripture!

The Mysterious Wise Men. Perhaps the group associated with the Christmas story who takes the cake for the most misquoted and misunderstood ideas developed about them would be the magi or wise men. Much of this is due to the beloved Christmas Carol, "We Three Kings of Orient Are." First off, we are not sure that there were only three of them. There may have been many more. The text of Matthew 2 doesn't specify any specific number. Just that they were magi plural and brought three gifts. It is hard to imagine that just three of them would have caused as much of a stir as described. And I have no clue where the names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar came from to call them. Scripture never gives us any of their names. For that matter, nothing is said about them being kings either. The word "magi" means "great or powerful ones" and often alluded to those with a high status or influence. These ones probably were astrologers who studied the stars and tried to interpret the future by them. That's why they take such a special notice to this unique star that showed up which others may have just passed over in their causally gazing into the night sky. They made it their practice to examine the stars. The group would not have had crowns on their heads but their eyes on the sky. "We unspecified number of astrologers of Orient are" would be quite a mouthful to sing though.

And when it comes to their arrival, just about every single manger scene gets it wrong. The magi would not have been there at the same time as the shepherds. In fact, they would not have been at the manger at all. Matthew doesn't say that they came to the cave to find the baby or infant but "into the HOUSE" where "they saw the CHILD" (2:11). It probably was a good year or a year and a half before the magi arrived to meet Jesus. We know that it had been close to two years from when they first noticed the star and talked to King Herod about it to when the king realized that they weren't coming back. Hence, why he ordered all the male children two years old and under to be slaughtered (v. 16). So, Jesus would have been one or one and a half at the time of their visit and well out of the manger.

A Manger Without a Cross. One of the most dangerous of these misinterpretations is presenting the manger without the cross. Speaking and viewing it without being in Calvary’s shadow. One thing we notice in Scripture is that the nativity is never presented to us as an isolated event but is always connected to the cross. It is never just about the birth of the Messiah. For instance, in her song following the announcement that she had been chosen to bear the Christ child, Mary exclaims that God "has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy" according to the promise that God made to their ancestors (Luke 1:54-55). That "help" ultimately being in the sense of salvation. Zacharias, right after the birth of his son, John the Baptist, acknowledges that with the coming of the One whom his son had been designed to point to, God "has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant" (Luke 1:68-69). The name "Jesus" itself speaks of the reason for the child's birth which finds its fulfillment in His death on the cross. As the angel Gabriel told Joseph in the dream, "you shall call His name Jesus, FOR HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS" (Matthew 1:21). The shepherds were specifically told that the One who had been born that very night was "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). And the old man, Simeon, who sees the baby Jesus in the temple, recognizes that in laying his eyes upon Him that he is looking at the very One who will accomplish salvation for God's people (Luke 2:30). An accomplishment we know that will occur through His death and resurrection which Simeon indicates with him prophetically telling Mary that "a sword will pierce her own soul to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed" (v. 35). What greater sword could pierce a mother's soul than watching her son being brutally and painfully crucified? Interestingly enough, one of the gifts of the Magi was myrrh which was often used in embalming and symbolized bitterness, suffering, and affliction. Again, connecting us to His crucifixion where He would suffer and die for the salvation of His people. The Ball Brothers have communicated this so well in one of their songs. “It's not just about the manger / Where the baby lay / It's not all about the angels / Who sing for him that day / It's not all about the shepherds / Or the bright and shining star / It's not all about the wise men
Who travelled from afar / It's about the cross / It's about my sin /It's about how Jesus came to be born once / So that we could be born again / It's about the stone / That was rolled away / So that you and I could have real life someday / It's about the cross.”

So, as we go about celebrating our Savior’s birth this month, let’s be sure to recognize these misquotations and misunderstandings surrounding it and stick to just what Scripture says. Hope you and your family are blessed with a wonderful season with a focus not on the reason for the season but the reason He came.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misquoted and Misapplied Verses: When Jesus is Really in the Midst of the Church

2025-11-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

We hear it said at just about every prayer meeting with a low turnout or when the crowd may be sparse for the Bible study or ministry event. Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” What a great encouragement to the faithful few who showed up! The only problem is that this is not referring to a general prayer meeting or Bible study at all. It is another instance of an “Inigo Montoya passage.” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.” What the verse is talking about may come as a surprise because so few churches actually practice what it refers to.

Of course, it certainly is true that Jesus is there in the gathering of the two or three present for the prayer meeting and Bible study. He is in our midst no matter where we may be or what we may be doing. That is just as much the case of every private prayer meeting or Bible study we may have when it is only ourselves as well as a public one whether it would be in a crowd of 10 or 1,000. We don’t have to quickly find a few other people to get together with for Him to show up among us so to speak. David recognized this in his ponderings of Psalm 139. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get away from God’s presence. He would be everywhere the king was. If he went to the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, he would still find God present. He writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I lift up the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me” (vv. 7-10). Jesus’ parting words to His church were a promise to be with us always even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). This is indeed the case with Jesus’ Holy Spirit living inside every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). So, there is never a case where Jesus cannot be said to be in the midst of a believer alone or believers who have gathered together.

As always, context is the key for the right understanding of this verse. We must see how it fits with what is said both before and after the statement. And when we do that here, we discover the context to be that of church discipline. How the congregation is to lovingly confront and correct any major sin in its members. Jesus begins this section with instructions on what to do “if your brother sins” (Matthew 18:15). (You will notice some older translations have “against you” afterwards. The reason why newer ones do not is because we have discovered earlier copies of the Greek New Testament since then that do not have the “against you” in them, leading many scholars to believe that those two words were not originally a part of the text. Regardless though, Galatians 6:1 speaks of the need to restore a brother or sister who is caught in any type of sin generally. Probably both sin in general and specific sins against an individual are included here.) Following His telling the parable of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine of His flock of a hundred to pursue the one which is lost (vv. 12-14), we are to understand this as Jesus teaching the church to go after any wandering or straying sheep in its own flock who needs to be brought back to the fold. More likely, this is speaking of noticeable habitual ongoing sins the person is clearly unrepentant of that you don’t have to go searching for to see. And Jesus lays out four steps to this process. The first step is a one on one confrontation with the individual to point out their sin and call them to repent of it (v. 15). The hope of this private meeting is repentance and restoration. The winning back of the brother. However, if the man or woman refuses to listen and turn from whatever the sin is, the next step has one or two more people involved to serve as witnesses of the matter (v. 16). If the person continues to walk in the direction of the sin after that meeting, the third step is to bring the issue to the church (v. 17). The goal here being for the entire congregation to reach out to this one and plead for their repentance. I like how one commentator has put it, “God loves us so much that if we are caught in sin, He will send an entire army of believers to us as a demonstration of His love and mercy.” And, if after that, he or she still stubbornly persists in the sin, the most drastic of the steps is to “let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector,” two groups who were at that time excluded from the fellowship. Basically, this is speaking of excommunication; no longer recognizing the individual as belonging to the congregation. Instead, he or she is to be seen as an unbeliever needing to be evangelized rather than a brother or sister a part of the family.

This brings us now to the verse under discussion. In light of that process, Jesus provides the church with confidence when such a decision has to be reached. The confidence is that they are carrying out the will of heaven in following the steps Jesus has just laid out for them (v. 18). The actions they have taken regarding the person is what God has already determined to be done about them in these instructions. The church is simply confirming Jesus’ wishes we could say. The two or three agreeing about anything they ask on earth with the expectation that God who is in heaven will do it for them probably refers to this action of discipline as well (v. 19). It speaks of His support of their decision, assuming that they have done everything He has said in this passage. And v. 20 then serves as that reminder of Jesus’ presence in such.

You see, rather than being intended to serve as an encouragement to the small tiny group gathered to pray or study the Bible, this verse is designed for the whole church to assure them that they have Jesus’ approval whenever carrying out the unfortunate task of disciplining a wayward member who continues to refuse to repent for his or her sin. We really hope not to have too many situations where this verse would actually apply to us. But should we ever do, we know that if we faithfully follow the blueprint Jesus gives us here for how to lovingly confront and correct the sin of one of our members, we do not go at it alone. Jesus is right there with us in every step of the process, including that last one if necessary. So, there should be no fear in any church practicing this discipline when needed. It is helpful to know that Jesus is with us when there are only a small group who have gathered. It is even more important to know that He is with us in this difficult responsibility and work of holding each other accountable for our walk with Him. Praise God that we can know He is our midst in the process of such!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: God’s Hopeful Prosperous Plans for the Future?

2025-10-09T04:13:00.000-07:00

It is the quintessential graduation verse. How many baccalaureate or commencement speeches have we heard with it quoted? And it is hard to find a graduation card that doesn’t reference it. (Trust me, I’ve looked. Hallmark likes this one too!) Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares Yahweh, plans for peace and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”

Perhaps you are thinking, “What’s wrong with sharing this powerful promise with the youth today right as they are getting ready to embark on the world and face so many unforeseen challenges and struggles ahead? Don’t we want them to know that whatever their future holds God has a good plan for them in it not to harm them but to prosper them?” The problem is that most who read this verse take the “peace or prosperity” in it to mean a prosperous good life in their immediate future without any hardship or difficulty to come. (Literally, the word is “shalom” in Hebrew which refers to wholeness, completeness, or wellness. It has been the traditionally greeting of the Jews, wishing the person they are speaking to be healthy and well.) However, that is not what this verse is saying or implying at all. Hence why I include it in the category of “Inigo Montoya passages.” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

I’m sure that Paul certainly wasn’t thinking of this verse when he discovered God’s plan for him to suffer much for Christ’s sake (Acts 9:16). That wouldn’t fit in very well with the peace or prosperity and no calamity or harm promised in it. Stephen would not have clung to this promise as he was being stoned (Acts 7). And Jim Elliot who died by the spears of the Waodani people in Ecuador in his attempt to share the gospel with them would have been greatly disappointed had this verse been in his graduation card and he took it the way many do today. In fact, many believers throughout history have experienced physical harm and persecution on account of their faith in Christ. A number like Paul, Stephen, and Jim have even been killed for their faith. None of them could conclude that God’s plan for their life on this earth was peace and prosperity.

As always, the remedy to misinterpreting and misapplying any passage of Scripture is to examine it in its context. Look to see how it connects to what both comes before the verse and after it. When we do that, it prevents us from running with a verse assuming that it means one thing when actually it does not. And when we examine this verse in its context, we discover that rather than young graduates being addressed, it is the people of Israel. And it is not at a commencement service where they will be celebrating the reception of their diplomas after years of hard work and study. It is in the midst of judgment from God for their many years of hard heartedness and wayward rebellion. They didn’t pass all of their tests but failed them. This verse is actually part of a letter the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Jews who had been taken out of the land God had promised to give them and placed into exile in Babylon (29:1, 4). Things looked pretty bleak for them at that moment. They were being uprooted from their homes and forced to live in an unfamiliar place with people who did not speak their language and who worshiped false gods. The temple where their God would symbolically dwell with them would be destroyed. It became a time of apparent hopelessness and despair for the people. One of the psalms would later describe their attitude. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our lyres. For there our captors asked us about the words of a song, and our tormentors asked joyfully, saying, ‘Sing for us one of the songs of Zion.’ How can we sing a song of Yahweh in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:1-4).

It is with the backdrop of such a dark time they were entering into, God shows them light at the end of the tunnel with the words of this verse. God has not designed for this time of exile to last forever. It will be limited to just 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). This will not be the end for God’s people. They can hold on to the hope that God has a good plan for them in the future following the judgment. He will bring them back to the land they were taken from. Ultimately, this will not be for their harm or calamity but for their peace and prosperity. That of course would be speaking in a small way of their return from exile to the promised land after those predetermined 70 years would be complete. However, I don’t think we can see that as exhausting this promise because the believing Jews of the remnant God has chosen to save have yet to have a time of complete peace or prosperity in their land. This means that it must point far forward to a much greater time yet to come for God’s people which now includes not only believing Jews but believing Gentiles as well (Ephesians 3:6; Galatians 3:29). The New Testament refers to believers in the church today as being in exile in a foreign land (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:11) with our true citizenship being in heaven (Philippians 3:20) and that real Promised Land as that of the new heavens and new earth yet future (1 Peter 1:4; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21). So, the real prosperity or peace for God’s people promised in this verse will not be found in the here and now but in the age to come.

The verse certainly can be a promise for a graduate today IF he or she is in Christ by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Him alone. Don’t miss the fact that this promise is connected with the people seeking God through calling upon Him in worship and praying to Him (vv. 12-13). It will not apply and be a reality to those who later do not. It would not be a promise we would want to write in an unbeliever’s card who is not seeking after God at all. The graduate would also need to understand that it is not speaking of anyone’s future career, marriage, or family. It goes so much more beyond that being a promise and blessed hope for every believer of God’s great plans for us beyond the grave. Plans which we know are only fulfilled through Christ’s sinless life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection on our behalf. Praise God that He has such plans for our future in Christ! Plans for peace and not calamity! Plans to give us a future hope!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Examining Election and Pondering Predestination

2025-09-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

One of the most controversial topics in the Bible is election. Just the mention of the word in the biblical context is sure to start a debate or argument. But no Bible believing Christian (I repeat myself) can deny it since the Bible clearly teaches it. Jesus spoke of many being called but few chosen (Matthew 22:14). He said that it was for the ELECT’s sake He will shorten the days of trouble prior to His return (Matthew 24:22) and that if it were possible, even the ELECT would fall away and be led astray during such a time (Mark 13:22). God will certainly come to the aid of His ELECT who cry out to Him for what they need (Luke 18:7). And Jesus promises at His return to send His angels to gather His ELECT from all over the globe (Matthew 24:31). Paul explicitly exclaims in praise that God “CHOSE us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). The assurance for the believer that God will finish His purpose in his or her life is found in the golden chain of salvation given in Romans 8:29-30. “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified”. Also how no one can bring any guilty charge against “God’s ELECT” on account of the cleansing of their sin and being covered with Christ’s righteousness accomplished through the work of Christ (v. 33). He tells the Thessalonians he knows their ELECTION (1 Thessalonians 1:4) and then in another letter how God had CHOSEN them as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13). And Peter opens up his first letter to the exiled Christians scattered throughout “who are CHOSEN according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to the obedience of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2). Later, in his second letter, he encourages his readers to “be all the more diligent to make your calling and CHOOSING [or ELECTION] sure” (2 Peter 1:10). There can be no question that the Bible teaches the doctrine of election. The issue is how we understand the election the Bible speaks of. I think when we consider everything Scripture says about God’s work in our salvation, the better understanding of this difficult doctrine is that it refers to God’s choosing of those whom He will save all for His glory according to His grace.

The Nature of Election

The first response we often have when we read these statements is, "I thought that I chose Him. I chose to trust in Christ for my salvation and to follow Him, didn’t I? Don’t we sing, 'I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back?' " Indeed, you did decide and it was a real choice on your part but you have to realize that the only reason you ever chose Him was due to Him first choosing you and bringing you into a place where you would see your great need of Him and even have a desire to flee to Him for your salvation. The best illustration I have ever heard for this comes from the late Presbyterian preacher, Donald Grey Barnhouse. He said to imagine the door into Christ’s kingdom being shaped like a cross. Because the only way into that kingdom comes by the means of the cross. And over the top of that door are the words from Revelation, “Whosoever will may come.” When you enter through that door by putting your faith in Christ, you now turn and look back to the door from the inside and read the words from Ephesians 1 over it, “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.” You realize after being saved that the only reason you were able to come to Christ was because God first chose you and worked in your life to do so. In a sense, it is kind of like Zaccheus. The wee little man climbed up into that sycamore tree seeking after Jesus, wanting to see Him, only to find out that Jesus had already been seeking after him.

Scripture is clear that our salvation is entirely the work of God from start to finish. It is 100% His work and 0% ours.There is absolutely nothing we can boast of ourselves regarding our salvation. Our only boast can be in Him because He has done all that is necessary for it. Jesus has lived the perfect obedient sinless life we have failed to live, died the death we deserve for our sins, and rose from the dead conquering death itself. The Holy Spirit opens our blind eyes to see the truth of who we are, who Christ is, and the significance of what He has done for those who have believed. He is the One to convict us of our sins, cause us to be born again, and work in our hearts saving faith as well as bringing us to repentance. All of that is based on the Father’s plan we are looking at right now. It is all Him and not us at all. As Jonathan Edwards has said, "The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary." We do the sinning and He has do the saving.

God is the One who always takes the initiative in our salvation. He seeks us before we would ever think to seek Him ourselves. That was the case with Adam after the fall. He would have remained hidden in his shame otherwise (Genesis 3:8-12). The same is true with Abraham who was busy worshiping the gods of his father Terah and paying no attention to Yahweh when the Lord came to him and called the man (Joshua 24:2). We see this also with Isaac, Jacob, the twelve disciples, and the Apostle Paul just to name a few. Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to the Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him [that same one the Fathers draws] up on the last day.” Just go through the book of Acts. Luke is very consistent that every single conversion is a work of the Holy Spirit. That God ultimately is the one responsible for the persons who come to faith in Christ. He says that the 3,000 who responded positively to Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost had been “pierced to the heart” (2:37). Something had happened to them from outside of them. The Lord was the One who continually added to their number. They did not add themselves. It was divine math. Acts 13:48 reports about some of the first Gentile converts, “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” And we are told in chapter 16 that the Lord had opened up Lydia’s heart to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul (v. 14). Even the faith and repentance by which we must respond to the gospel are described as being gifts from God. Philippians 1:29 states, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” It has been granted to suffer for Christ just as much as it is to believe in Him. And Paul tells Timothy in his second letter to “with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps GOD MAY GIVE THEM REPENTANCE leading to the full knowledge of the truth” (2:8).

The Bible even tells us that left to ourselves, we would NEVER seek after God to choose Him for salvation. The Psalmist and Paul could not be any clearer that "there is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside" (Psalm 14:2-3; Romans 311-12). We are described to be like sheep who once lost cannot find their way back (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Peter 2:25). Which is why it is necessary for a good shepherd to leave the 99 of his flock to go out and search for the one lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-13). That sheep will remain helplessly lost otherwise. We had a dog when I was growing up called "Mutt." That's what he was. A mutt. Anyway, I remember one time he getting loose from his chain and running away. We searched all over the neighborhood for him but were not able to find him. That was a Thursday or Friday night. Then, on Saturday morning, I heard something at the door and, lo and behold, there was Mutt! He had found his way back home and returned. That would not be the case for sheep. That is not the case for us.

Take a moment to think back to your own conversion. How you became a Christian. Were you at one time indifferent to Jesus? Not caring what He thought about what you did? Having little to no desire at all to read the Bible? Certainly not wanting to ever step foot in church. Or if you were blessed to have grown up in the church, you were only coming because mom and dad wanted you to or to see your friends. It wasn’t to worship Christ and to serve Him. But then something happened. You very much started caring what He thought about you. You began to read your Bible because you wanted to know Him more. There was a longing present now to do so which had not been there before. And you regularly started to attend worship each week for Christ’s sake to serve Him. How can you describe such a change? It couldn’t have been that you just simply “came to your senses” or that you changed your mind all on your own. We are far too stubborn for that! It had to be God’s Spirit doing a prior work in your life to bring you there.

Charles Spurgeon recognized this reflecting back on his own conversion. He wrote, "When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this… One week-night, ... the thought struck me, "How did you come to be a Christian?" I sought the Lord. "But how did you come to seek the Lord?" The truth flashed across my mind in a moment – I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith, and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, "I ascribe my change wholly to God." Spurgeon is also the one who acknowledged, “If God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards.”

I recently discovered an older hymn that conveys this truth well. It goes, "I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew / He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me; it was not I that found, O Savior true; no, I was found of Thee. Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold; I walked and sunk not on the storm-vexed sea; ‘twas not so much that I on Thee took hold, as Thou, dear Lord, on Me.” Without realizing it, we have sung this truth in a number of our hymns. It is conveyed in the words, "He sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God," "Jesus sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood", and "I know not how this saving faith, to me He did impart . . . I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus thru the Word, creating faith in Him."

I think every believer actually understands this truth in their hearts. They just may not have connected all the dots about it in their heads yet. I say that because no true Christian would ever dream of taking the credit for their salvation. They almost instinctively know as part of the new nature given to them in their new birth to give glory to God alone for it. It only makes sense to give God the full and complete glory and praise for our salvation if He is the One said to be in charge of all of it, from the very start of it to its reception and completion. Also, pretty much every Christian I have ever met prays for the salvation of their loved ones who don't currently know Jesus. If the determining factor of salvation rested in the sinner's hands, then there would be no reason for such prayers to be said. But since salvation is entirely the work of God, the best thing we can do is to pray for God to bring the individual to repentance and saving faith in Christ because we rightfully recognize that there is no way they can do such themselves in their sinful state.

The Basis of Election

There is no indication in these texts that God’s choice of us is based on anything about us at all. Nothing is said or implied that God chose us on account of something He saw in us or about us beforehand. I think some want to read that into the text because they are uncomfortable with what it says at face value. I love Deuteronomy 7. That passage deals with God’s choosing of Israel over and against all the other nations. Out of all the nations in the world, why did He ever choose Israel? He says it wasn’t because they were the most numerous. That certainly couldn’t be the case because they were the smallest of the nations. And we know it wasn’t due to any righteousness or obedience on their part. The entire record of the Jews in the OT is one of rebellion and idolatry. Continual disobedience to God’s commands. What is the reason He gives for choosing them? Simply because He chose to love them. It all comes down to that. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 1 at the end of v. 5, He chose to save us “according to the good pleasure of His will.”

Now, you may say, “But doesn’t 1 Peter 1:2 and Romans 8:29 both indicate that God’s election is according to His foreknowledge? Wouldn’t that mean His choice is based on what He foreknew our choice would be or whether or not we would ever exercise faith?” Let me point out a few things about this foreknowledge in the context of Scripture to show that such cannot be the correct understanding of it. I have actually written more about this in greater depth here in case you would like to explore this argument further. First, we need to recognize that the word is not the same as "foresee" or "foresight." It does not mean something God looked forward in the corridors of time to discover. It is something He simply knew beforehand. Actually, when we pay attention to how this term is often used in Scripture, you will notice that the emphasis in the foreknowledge is almost always on SOMEONE and not SOMETHING specific about them. Any of that is only secondary at best. Paul states that God knew the people of Israel beforehand (Romans 11:2), not anything specific about them regarding their faith or faithlessness. It is Jesus Himself who Peter describes as being "foreknown before the foundation of the world" in 1 Peter 1:20. In Romans 8:29, the apostle states explicitly that it is those whom He foreknew that God predetermined to be made into the image of His Son. We also see that this foreknowledge of God is connected with His predetermined plan. That is the case in Acts 2:23 when Peter points out in his sermon on Pentecost that Jesus was delivered over to be crucified by the Jews and the Romans was "by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God." It doesn't make sense for this to mean that God predetermined His plan based on what He knew beforehand would occur with the actions of man. That would actually go against all the prophecies in the Old Testament which laid out what would happen and Jesus' own teaching that the Son of Man must go as it has been written of Him beforehand (Matthew 26:24). God foreknew what He had already planned. We need to realize as well that the word "know" in Scripture often has the connotation of love or intimately connected with. Early on we are told in the Hebrew that Adam KNEW Eve his wife and she conceived and bore a child (Genesis 4:1). Now, for that to happen, Adam had to know a lot more about Eve than just one specific thing about her. He had to know her fully and thoroughly, in an intimate sense of a relationship. God in Amos 3:2 tells Israel, "You only have I KNOWN among all the families of the earth." The idea here is that out of all of the nations in the world, God had chosen Israel alone to love and have a relationship with at the time. Likewise, when Jesus later says to false professors, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23), it clearly cannot be that He did not know of them or who they were. It was simply that He did not know them to be His. Putting all of this together, the talk of God's election of His people being according to His foreknowledge appears to indicate nothing more than the fact that those He chose to belong to Him are the ones He had determined to love or know as His people beforehand. It simply says that God chose the ones He has determined to know and love as His own before we even existed existed yet. His love for us preceded our love for Him (1 John 4:10, 19).

The question which is typically asked when it comes to this doctrine of election is “Why doesn’t God save everyone?” May I kindly and lovingly suggest that that is the wrong question to be asking? You see, underlying that question is either the thought that everyone deserves to be saved or that God somehow owes us salvation. That it would be unjust for Him not to save everyone if it were up to His choice to do so. Keep in mind though that no one deserves salvation. We all deserve damnation. And God would be perfectly just to have all of us go to hell to pay for our sins. No one will be in hell who doesn’t deserve to be there. And no one will be in heaven who does deserve to be there. Those who believe and are saved are those God has chosen to show mercy to. If a governor of a state which practices the death penalty chooses to pardon a criminal on death row, that man or woman receives mercy; not getting what they deserve. All the other criminals not chosen by the governor to be pardoned receive justice; getting what they do deserve. None of them could be said to receive injustice. You see, the better question is not “Why doesn’t God choose to save everyone?” but “Why does God choose to save anyone?” Or to make it even more personal, “Why would God choose to save me?” “Why would God choose to save you?” In light of all we have ever done against Him and will yet to do, why does He choose to save a wretched sinner like me or you? We clearly don’t deserve it and give Him every reason not to. Yet, if you are in Christ, He has!

This truth of God’s election is not something we should argue, fight, or debate about. Rather, it is something we should rejoice in and praise God for. Let the glorious richness of this blessing sink in. If you are a believer, God chose to set His love upon you before you even existed to make a mess of things and give Him all the reasons not to love you. And if He determined to love you beforehand knowing all that about you since He knows everything past, present and future, that means there is absolutely nothing we could ever do to change His love for us or alter it in any way. His love precedes our actions and was with the fullest knowledge of them. He is not going to look down and see us do something and say, “Well, I’m not going to love them anymore because they did that.” He already knew we were going to do it and had made the choice long beforehand to love us regardless of it. As J. I. Packer has said, “There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.”

Isn’t this amazing? There is no love you have ever experienced like this. Your spouse began to love you after getting to know you a little bit while you were dating. Your parents the moment they learned of your conception and beginning development in the womb. But God’s love for you goes much farther back still, long before you ever were created. Before the world itself was made. How marvelous, how wonderful, is the Father’s love for us in Christ shown in His choice to save us through Christ’s perfect sinless life, substitutionary sacrifice, and victorious resurrection!

The Motivation of Election

Now, I need to say something about how this doctrine of God’s election relates to our evangelism. Because one of the things which are brought up whenever someone encounters such a teaching is why should we share the gospel if God has already chosen who would be saved. But this fails to see that God has not only chosen WHO will be saved but He has also chosen HOW they will be saved. Not just the end of who will come to faith in Christ but the means of how they will come to faith in Christ. And that means is through us proclaiming the gospel. Romans 10:14, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” We are given the privilege to be God’s mouthpiece and deliver the word He uses to bring men and women to faith. And the thing is none of us know who the elect are or not. God has not shared that information with us. Someone came up to Charles Spurgeon one time and asked him since he believed that only those God has chosen will be saved, why doesn’t he just preach the gospel to the elect then. He told the man that if he could lift up everyone in the crowd’s coattails and see an E or C on their bellies to indicate such, he would just preach to them. But of course no such marking of whom God has chosen exist. And, frankly, it is not our business to know. Nowhere are we ever told in Scripture to be concerned with whether someone has been chosen by God before the foundation of the world to belong to Him. But the Bible does say we must be concerned that everyone hears the gospel and be called to repent and believe in Christ alone for their salvation. Our job is to share the Word, pray, and leave the results in God’s hands. And don't give up on that person you have been witnessing to and praying for but have yet to see any change in them at all or movement towards Christ. Don't write them off as not being elect then. We have no idea what God might do in their life 20 or 30 years from now. It may be that God is working in their heart now in ways you cannot see or that He has you planting seeds His Spirit intends to water later to cause to bud with the fruit of faith.

It is interesting to note that in their evangelistic sermons in the book of Acts directed to unbelievers, Paul and Peter do not say a word about election. Nothing is mentioned to the people about God choosing any of them to believe and be His own. Instead, they are called to repent and believe in response to the message of what Christ has done. However, in their letters, they have no problem and do not hesitate to refer to believers as being the elect or having been chosen by God. That is telling. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ proves or demonstrates one’s election. So if you are concerned with whether you have been chosen or not, know that if you are trusting in Christ alone for your salvation, you clearly have been. Because the sure sign of election is being brought to faith in Jesus. And if you are not looking to Christ as your only hope of salvation, I appeal to you to turn from your sins in repentance and leave whatever else you may be trusting in to get you to heaven and come to Him now. And, if by God’s grace you do, you can know that He chose you in Him before the foundation of the world as well. You’ll be able to look back at that door and see that blessed truth.

This teaching of election actually serves as a motivation for evangelism. That was the case for the Apostle Paul. He faced much adversity in Corinth and probably did not have any immediate visible fruit. But what kept Paul laboring to preach the gospel there in spite of all the hardship which easily could have convinced him that he should head to a different area? The Lord had spoken to him in a vision telling him that He had many people in that city. That there were those who have been chosen to become God’s people who needed to hear Paul’s message and would respond to it positively (Acts 18:5-10). He couldn’t give up because of those who had been selected to receive the gospel he was called to preach. I don’t know if he had to remind himself of that or not when things got really tough for him there. If he had to say from time to time, "I have to keep preaching for the sake of those many people in this city God has chosen to be His." Either way, that truth revealed in the vision led him to continue on there a year and six months more (v. 11). The knowledge that God has many more of His elect to be saved and join His church in the area you are in as well as those among our friends and family should keep us sharing the message with them and praying for them rather than shrinking back.

In fact, what has kept more missionaries on the mission field so long where they have labored for years in some instances without ever seeing one convert is this truth. That God has elected those from every tribe, tongue, and nation to be saved and that will only take place through their ministry of the gospel. John Alexander, a former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, once said, “At the beginning of my missionary career, I said that if predestination were true, I could not be a missionary. Now after twenty some years of struggling with the hardness of the human heart, I say I could never be a missionary unless I believed in the doctrine of predestination."

And let me just add that out of all the names of the greatest evangelists and missionaries in history, William Carey, Jim Elliot, Adoniram Judson, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles Spurgeon, just to give a sampling of them, most of them were convinced that the ones who would respond to their message were those God had chosen or elected to beforehand. Believing that in no way directed them away from evangelism and missions but propelled them further in it.

The Purpose of Election

I want to end our study with a look at the purpose of election. The aim or goal of what God has elected believers for. This is where the doctrine of "predestination" comes in which is not the same as "election." Warren Wiersbe has helpfully pointed out that "Election seems to refer to people, while predestination refers to purposes." To put it in another way, we could say that election focuses on WHO God chooses while predestination is WHAT He chose them to be or do. And we find that Scripture points out three specific things all closely tied together that God has predestined those He has chosen beforehand for. One is to "be holy and blameless before Him" (Ephesians 1:4). In essence, to live a holy and righteous life as God has declared the believer to be through their faith in Christ. To labor for their practice to more and more match their holy and blameless position. Also, to be adopted as God's sons and daughters; to become part of His family with all the rights and privileges a child would have in that family (v. 5). And to "become conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29) which of course would be to be holy and blameless like Jesus is.

Don’t buy the lie that the doctrine of election will lead one to be lazy or lax in their spiritual life. To have the attitude of "if God has already chosen me, I can now do whatever I want." Such an attitude can never be the case for the person who realizes what God has chosen him or her to be. We have been chosen by God for a purpose. Not to live unholy and lives full of blame but holy and blameless ones reflecting being a child of God and resembling His Son. The knowledge of this being the chosen purpose for believers ought to encourage us to walk in it and call into question the status of those who have no desire to.

Now, I don't pretend to have all of this figured out and I may not have answered all the questions anyone may have about the Bible's teaching on election and predestination. But hopefully I helped lift the fog of confusion at least a little bit instead of adding to it. In conclusion, I want to stress again that this is not a doctrine to wring our hands over and get worked up about. It is a doctrine to delight in and take comfort in. That is the way Scripture treats it and how we should handle it then. Take some time today to reflect on the goodness and greatness of God in choosing to love and save you if you are a Christian long before you had ever done anything to disqualify yourself from that love and salvation. And the security you have in such love. That would be what Jesus, Paul, Peter and the other authors of Scripture under the inspiration of Scripture would want us to do with it.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: I Can Do All Things Through A Verse Misquoted . . . Or Can I? Philippians 4:13

2025-08-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

The verse can be found on T-shirts, mugs, and plagues. Christian athletes like to paint it on their cheeks or have it printed on their cleats, holding fast to it being a promise for God to empower them to make their 3-point jump shot or score the touchdown to help their team win the game. It has been said just before lifting something heavy or weights in the gym that will require some strength. The words have served as motivation to meet a goal someone has set or to overcome some sort of obstacle or challenge in front of them. And how many people have quoted it just before giving a speech or doing a solo to calm their nerves and anxiety? I am referring to the beloved Philippians 4:13 which states, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” For many of us, this was one of the first verses we ever committed to memory. The only problem is that it doesn’t mean what most people think it does. Hence why I refer to it as one of those “Inigo Montoya passages,” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Many today believe that this verse means that God will give them the power to do anything they may set their minds to or that they may desire. That they literally have the power in Christ to do whatever. But is that what Paul communicates in this verse? Certainly, someone could not go up on the roof of a tall building and jump off of it convinced that he will be able to fly because of what Philippians 4:13 says and be able to do such. They would learn fast that the “all things” doesn’t include flying! (PLEASE DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME!) Of course, that would be absurd but is similar to how a number wind up using this passage.

As always, to discover the real meaning of the passage and be sure that we are not misquoting or misapplying it, we need to examine the context of the verse. And when we do, what we find is that Paul is not talking about any sporting event, lifting weights, or standing in front of people at all. Those types of things are far from his mind. Instead, he is addressing the generous offering that the church there in Philippi had sent to him. He wants them to know that he doesn’t speak from being in need in rejoicing over receiving it but that he has learned to be content in whatever circumstances he has found himself in (v. 11). He goes on to say, “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in abundance; in any and all things I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (v. 12). You see, his focus is on being content regardless of one’s circumstances. It doesn’t matter if he is in a place where he doesn’t have enough resources or if he has too much. He doesn’t see himself as lacking in either one.

What is the secret to such contentment? That’s where v. 13 comes in. He acknowledges that Jesus is the One who gives him strength in times of want and in times of plenty. He realizes he basically has all that he needs in Christ. He is never lacking anything even when physically he may not have as much. When we keep in mind that he writes this letter from prison, it really puts things in perspective. He is in a spot currently where he easily could be discontent and feel that he certainly is lacking. Instead, he recognizes that he still has Christ and that by far makes up for anything he may lack physically. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.” Jesus is enough and knowing that blessed truth can get us through whatever storm or trial we may wind up facing or have to walk through.

I actually think that this makes the verse so much more practical for us. Who of us doesn’t have problems with contentment at times? When the prices go up for inflation or tariffs and you have to tighten your budget, choosing not to get as much. You go through that rough patch in your marriage and it is not all that you had hoped it would be. The job you had devoted so much of your time to and that provided for the family shuts its doors or is forced to have to lay you off. You have to walk through the loss of a spouse or even a child, long before you had ever planned to. Someone in the family is discovered to have a disability which adds difficulty not just for them but for you and the entire family. Disaster or disease strikes taking away your home, stuff, or health. How can you handle such and keep going? Through applying the meaning of this verse by looking to Christ and finding your strength in Him. Reminding yourself that no matter what you may be lacking physically here on this earth that Christ makes up for it. You still have all that you need in Him. You are not lacking in any way.

So, instead of this being a promise that you will have what it takes to score to win the game, lift something heavy, achieve that goal, or give that speech, these are the words the athlete needs to go to when due to age and all the activity of his life he is no longer physically able to continue to perform on the field or court, the weights become too much to lift like you used to, the hope of achieving that goal is shattered, and the speaking engagement falls through. Not as a motivation for such but an encouragement to persevere through it. May God help us to learn the same kind of contentment Paul did and to continually direct us back to Christ for the strength we need for that contentment in the midst of whatever circumstances we may be in.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: The Most Misquoted and Misapplied Verse in All the Bible

2025-07-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

It could rightly be called the most popular verse in all of the Bible. Certainly the one which appears quoted the most often, even by believers and unbelievers alike. Those who have never read much of the Bible at all know it well and will throw it out whenever someone may call their lifestyle or decisions into question or say what they are doing is a sin. They are very quick to point out what the Bible says in this one verse. However, the verse does not mean anything close to how it is used in such situations. The verse I’m referring to is not John 3:16 as you might first have been thinking. It is Matthew 7:1 which says, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged.” How many times have we heard someone say when we point out something they are doing is wrong or sinful that Jesus says not to judge and that is judging them? Often times it is treated as a “get out of accountability free card” or as what Mark Dever has referred to as a “shield for sin”. The philosopher Leo Tolstoy even claimed that it indicated that we shouldn’t have any court system at all! This clearly is another one of those “Inigo Montoya passages.” “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

When we come to this verse, we have to realize that Jesus is in no way prohibiting the passing of judgment in general. That can’t be the case. In just a few verses, He will tell His disciples, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (v. 6). Basically, don’t give deep spiritual biblical truths and teaching to those who want nothing to do with it and will not benefit from it. Such will be a waste and not appreciated. For us to obey this, don’t we have to make a judgment call as to who would be considered a “dog” or “swine” not to spend our time giving the holy things to? Jesus also goes on to warn of false prophets and how they can be known to be such by their fruits. To conclude that someone is a false prophet or teacher requires judgment. Jesus even commands for His followers to “judge with righteous judgment” in John 7:24! Paul later says that we ARE to judge those within the church but not those outside who still belong to the world (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). In fact, in that passage, he is chastising the church in Corinth for their failure to judge the immoral man in their midst who is sleeping with his stepmother. Jesus cannot mean by this statement that we should never call another believer out for his or her sin because He lays out an entire process for how we are to do so in Matthew 18:15-20. Lovingly calling out someone else’s sin and their need to repent cannot be the type of judgment Jesus refers to here. He would not later tell us how to do so if He first said that we are not supposed to do so at all. And if you read the Matthew 7 passage carefully, not just stopping at verse 1, you can see that Jesus does not say that we are not to do anything about the speck of sawdust in our brother’s eye. Only that we must take care of the unmistakable much greater log or plank of wood in our own. THEN, and only then, we are in a position to address our brother’s speck. That’s the whole point of v. 5, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

So, what kind of judgment is Jesus speaking of here then when He calls us not to judge? A self-righteous hypocritical type of judging. Having an “I’m holier than thou” attitude in confronting sin, thinking that we are better or less sinful than someone else because we may not be guilty of the exact same type of sin as them in the moment. It is rightly confronting someone else in their sin but wrongly failing to do anything about similar sin in your own life. Treating their sin as greater than your own. For instance, the case of a believer approaching another professing believer about him cheating on his wife and rightly calling for him to repent but then turning around to go home to look at pornography on his phone where he needs to repent and leave such sin behind himself. He is ignoring the huge wooden plank of sin in his own eye while addressing the speck in his brother’s. In fact, the reason his viewing habits would even be considered a plank in comparison with his brother’s infidelity as a speck is due to him refusing to deal with it when he is much closer to it. It is not that the man’s unfaithfulness to his spouse shouldn’t be confronted. Love for that man and his wife should move us to do so as Scripture commands (Matthew 18:15; Galatians 6:1). But nothing should be said to the man about it until the person is sure to clean up their own house at home so to speak first. This will insure that he will not be guilty of the self-righteous hypocritical judging Jesus condemns in this verse.

A prime example of the kind of judging Jesus tells us not to do here is found with the Pharisees. They were notorious for their self-righteous hypocrisy. Judging and looking down on others for not holding to the standards that they had set (and in many cases added to the ones God had set in His holy law) all the while not abiding by those standards themselves. Jesus presents the very picture of this in His parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who both go up to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee was preoccupied with how much more righteous he thought himself to be because he was not like those “sinners” out there such as that tax collector (vv. 11-12) not recognizing that he was just as much of a sinner in need of God’s mercy. He was very busy pointing out the speck in the tax collector’s eyes while ignoring the huge plank in his own obvious for everyone else to see. This very well could be another case where Jesus is directly addressing the Pharisees in His sermon both to confront their hypocrisy and warn His followers not to follow suit.

This verse is a call to proper judgment. Not no judging of anyone at all but a right judging of them. The warning here is to be sure that we are appropriately judging others. That’s what Jesus means when He says that the manner of judgment we use against others is that which we ourselves will receive (v. 2). Not that we will face judgment if we judge anyone else about anything but that we will face the same kind of judgment we give them. We will be held to the same standard we are holding them to left without an excuse for what we are doing because of our condemnation of them for doing the same thing. Therefore, we should be sure to be fair and accurate in the judgments we make and have the right attitude in repentance over our own sins so that we don’t befall the same ourselves. Like Haman winding up being hung on his own gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (Esther 6:9-10) and Adoni-bezek having his own thumbs and big toes cut off after doing the same for the seventy kings he had captured (Judges 1:6-7), the one practicing this unrighteous judging can expect to get it returned to them. Adoni-bezek even stated afterwards, “as I have done, so God has repaid me” (v. 7).

Let’s not misunderstand Jesus here. We absolutely are to judge. But that judgment should not be a self-righteous hypocritical judgment where we fail to deal with the sin in our own lives and only point out the sins in other’s lives as a way of elevating ourselves above them. Rather, when we first notice a concerning sin being practiced by a brother or sister that they need to repent of, we need to humbly first examine ourselves of any similar sins we have yet to deal with, recognizing that we are no better than they are but are in need of the same grace and accountability. Only then are we ready to judge as Jesus calls us to in this verse.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: A Patriotic Promise But for Whom? 2 Chronicles 7:14

2025-07-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

We continue this post with our look at some of what I like to call “Inigo Montoya Passages.” Those verses which are often misquoted and misapplied, causing us to say, “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.” We want to find out what it exactly does mean so that we don’t wind up misunderstanding it or, even worse, believing or doing something different than what God had said. The verse I want to examine this time is one that is very popularly quoted around patriotic holidays such as The Fourth of July and 9/11. You will hear it especially referenced on the National Day of Prayer. During times of drought, it will show up on people’s lips as well and in encouragements to pray in an election year. Many hold out hope of a national revival breaking out if they do what it says. This is the well-known statement of God to King Solomon right after the dedication of the temple in response to the king’s prayer for the temple. 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will listen from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.”

The first thing we need to realize here is that this is a SPECIFIC promise for a SPECIFIC people regarding a SPECIFIC land in a SPECIFIC time. It is not general for ALL people and EVERY land at ALL times. God is not saying that whoever prays and repents should expect Him to heal whatever land they are in. Only those who are counted as being His people with the land He refers to here. This means that to rightfully understand this promise and guard against misapplying it, we have to figure out the identity of the “My people” the verse mentions. That’s who the promise is for. And it is not America or Americans but the nation of Israel. Those who were in a covenant relationship with the Lord. That can’t apply to our nation as a whole today because clearly not everyone in it could rightly be called a part of God’s people. Only those who as a result of being born again by the Spirit have repented and trusted in Christ alone for their salvation can. We can say that there are those within our nation who would be part of God’s people but certainly not the entire nation or everyone in it. The only nation in history collectively together to have ever been recognized as being God’s people was ancient Israel. There has been no cutting of a covenant with our nation the same as occurred with the Israelites in the past. So, right away, we need to put a pause on appealing to this as a promise contingent for the citizens of our nation being on their knees.

We also must keep in mind that this promise was given as part of the old covenant with its stipulations of blessings on the people for obedience and curses to come upon them in their disobedience. The withholding of rain and destruction by grasshoppers or locusts mentioned in the previous verse serves as part of those prescribed curses. In fact, you will see such in the list of curses specified for the Israelites for their disobedience in Deuteronomy 28. In verses 24 and 38 there specifically. Therefore, we shouldn’t assume that the lack of rain we may be experiencing or a bad year for our crops is the result of some specific sin in our lives that we need to repent of together as a nation or due to the nation’s many sins. If it were, we would never have any rain and be bombarded with locusts!

The next thing we need to consider in understanding this passage is WHAT LAND. What specific land is being referred to in this promise that God will heal contingent on His people’s prayers? Once again, context is key. Since the “My people” are the people of Israel as part of the old covenant at the dedication of the temple, the land therefore must be the land of Canaan which God had given to them. Not the land of North America which we live. If we would even want to claim this promise for our country today, we shouldn’t expect any physical healing from pestilence or the relief of rain after a drought in response to it. That’s simply because the promise is for a different place entirely. We can’t just make the “land” be whatever “land” we live in or wherever we want it to be. It doesn’t work like that. In that context, God has a specific land in mind and it isn’t America.

So, what are we to do with this promise then if it doesn’t directly apply to us at all? Since we are not a part of the nation of Israel with the stipulations of the old covenant living in the land of Canaan, what relevance does it have to us? Should we just dismiss it or throw it out? Absolutely not! It is included with the “all Scripture” Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that “is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.” There has to be something for us in these words then. Whenever we find a text that isn’t given directly TO us, we are to look for the principle we can derive from it FOR us. In this case, one of those principles is for us to continue to humble ourselves, pray, seek the Lord, and turn from our sins in repentance, resting in the blessed and glorious truth that we have forgiveness for each and every one of those sins on account of Jesus’ living and dying on our behalf. We don’t have to worry about the old covenant curses such as drought and locusts falling upon us or our land as judgment on us since Jesus took all the curses of the old covenant on Himself so that we could receive the blessings of it as part of the new covenant even though we don’t deserve it on account of our disobedience.

An equivalent New Testament promise for the church would be 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The verb for “confess” is in the present tense in Greek, indicating an ongoing confession for daily cleansing. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, He told them that they each have already had their bath but needed their feet clean from the dirt of their walking to get there (John 13:10). Likewise, we have been fully and completely cleansed spiritually of our sins the moment we first have trusted in Christ alone for our salvation. We have had that bath we could say. But we still need His cleansing of our feet if you will for the dirt of sin we’ve collected throughout our day as we seek to grow in our sanctification and walk with the Lord. This is a regular prayer for us.

And we can and should pray for our nation. As was discussed in a previous article, we are commanded to pray for our leaders, especially for their salvation (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Also, mirroring the Jews in Babylon, to “seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Yahweh on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace (Jeremiah 29:7). And we should make it our aim to see more and more people in this nation come to Christ, so that they, by God’s grace through faith in Him, will be counted among God’s people to humble themselves, pray, repent, and confess their sins with us as we enjoy the blessings Christ has achieved for us on our behalf. And that is what will bring true revival! Be sure to remember all this the next time you hear this verse quoted but wrongly applied at the a national prayer service or patriotic celebration.

With my love in Jesus,
Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: A Precious Promise or a Sober Warning? Proverbs 22:6

2025-07-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Some of the most quoted verses of the Bible also are some of the most misunderstood and misapplied ones. They may be found on mugs, T-shirts, and plaques around the house, spoken of often, all the while with people missing the true meaning of what the verse actually says. Or, worse yet, thinking and treating the verse or passage as saying something different than what it does. I like to think of these as “Inigo Montoya passages.” In the classic movie, “The Princess Bride,” there is a scene where a man named Vizzini keeps saying that something that is happening is “inconceivable.” After the fourth time he says this in disbelief, another character who works for him, Inigo Montoya, says to him, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” In this case, it’s “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.” With this post, I want to begin a series where we will look at some of these famous “Inigo Montoya passages” to discover what they really mean. This way we will be sure not to misunderstand or misapply them ourselves.

We’ll start by looking at one of the most well-known and beloved proverbs in the Bible that could classify as potentially being the most misapplied and misunderstood of them. Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it (ESV). Many a parent has held to this verse as a precious promise that if they do their job right in raising their children that they then have no need to fear them ever going astray from what they were taught. However, a number of parents can also testify to them seeking to do their very best at this training to have the heartbreak of watching their son or daughter walk away from it, leaving it all behind. In such a case, what went wrong? How could the child grow up to depart from it when it says here that they will not? I think part of the problem lies in us having the wrong view of what this verse actually is saying. In fact, the more that I study it, the more I am convinced that rather than being a precious promise for parents to hold fast to, it instead serves as a sober warning of what can happen if we prove negligent in our duty to discipline our children.

Part of the misunderstanding of this verse begins with a mistranslation of the Hebrew that it was originally written in. The phrase should go is absent in the Hebrew. Literally, it reads, Train a child according to his way, even when he grows old, he will not turn aside from it. The training spoken of here then is not according to the way that the child ought to go but rather to his way. Furthermore, the word for “train” actually means to “start” or “begin.” (You will notice that the NIV captures this with their translation.) If you start a child out according to his own way, then you can expect him never to depart from it when he grows up. This changes everything, doesn’t it? What we have here is not encouragement as to what we are to do with our kids but what we must be careful not to do with them.

Now, why is it that hardly any English translation actually carries this meaning? We don’t know for sure but it may have something to do with the fact that the King James Version added the should go, perhaps giving their interpretation of the according to his way, and it has become so familiar of a translation that other modern versions have been hesitant to veer from translating it any other way. In fact, it is hard to find a translation that doesn’t include these two words or some variation of them. (The New American Standard Bible, NASB, at least contains a footnote to indicate the literal translation of it.) However, one of the newest of the English translations currently available, the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), does provide the closest reading of the text that I have found. It translates it as follows: Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

So, what does it mean for a parent to start a youth out on his way? What kind of way is it? According to the book of Proverbs, there is only two ways in which you can walk; the way of wisdom or the way of foolishness. The author seems to imply that the way of foolishness is the natural way for us to walk. He tells us that the way that appears right to a man has at its end the way of death (14:12; 16:25) and that foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, which is why discipline is necessary to remove it from him (22:15). This would mean that the way that the child would want to go would be the way of foolishness. And to allow him to go his way without any correction would be enable him to get to the place where he will not, apart from the supernatural work of God, depart from such foolishness.

When it comes to child rearing, the emphasis throughout the book of Proverbs is on discipline. We see this with every other proverb that addresses the issue (13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:17). In light of that, we should realize that this proverb isn’t an exception. It also deals with the issue of discipline. In this case, it is on what happens should the parent fail to discipline their son or daughter. Should they do so, their children will get to the point where the parents will not be able to do anything with him or her. The child will become so ingrained in their foolish disobedience that there is no way to break them of it.

And is this not what we are witnessing today? A generation of those who, by and at large, have not been disciplined and taught to go the way of wisdom, but rather who had parents who basically let them do whatever they wanted, allowing them to call the shots. Such has resulted in them desiring to have their way and not being able to be bridled. How many of a parent has wound up with a teenager who they can do nothing with who they failed to discipline at a young age? We see this warning left unheeded played out again and again.

For those of us with children still in our home, let’s be careful not to cave into their demands and allow them to get their way but to discipline them as God has prescribed, in hopes that their foolish bent will be curbed and they will learn to walk wisely. Of course, as with everything that God has called us to, this is not something that we can do on our own effectively without Him. We must rely on Him and seek to be faithful.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

God Has Called His Faithful Servant Home: A Personal Tribute to Pastor John MacArthur

2025-07-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

The news came yesterday that God has called His faithful servant, Dr. John MacArthur, longtime pastor and preacher-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, home after many many many years of steadfast and unwavering commitment to the Word of God.

Next to my pastor and mentor, Ken Dolan, probably no one has had more of an impact on my spiritual life and ministry than John MacArthur. In fact, it was Ken who first introduced me to John's ministry. He probably gave me a book or two of his which led me to begin to listen to his sermons. Immediately, I was impressed by how he refused to pull any punches but would tell it like it is and the Bible says. He wasn't concerned about being "politically correct" or sugarcoating the truth at all as many popular preachers can be today. (Which is why he could be such a polarizing figure at times. Some people could not stand how straightforward he was with the truth and him speaking up against certain issues in the manner that he did.) I remember hearing him saturate his messages with so much Scripture referencing a number of them by memory and praying that God would help me be able to do the same one day in my own preaching. (I'm not sure that I am there yet but it is still an aspiration!) Some of those messages of his have stuck with me over the years. I remember as a lonely seminary student longing for a relationship someday being comforted by his exposition of 1 Corinthians 7 on singleness and marriage. The clarity he provided on the passage being exactly what I needed to hear at the time as I would be waiting on God's timing for another 6 or 7 years or so to give me the lovely and wonderful wife I have now. Also, while in seminary, a point I heard he make that to truly be about God's glory is to rejoice in the blessing that God gives to another pastor and his church instead of yours has remained with me to this day. It cut deep at the time and greatly convicted me. Such a truth is brought back to remind me even now when needed (which is more often than I like to admit). And, probably, the sermon I have listened to of his the most is the one entitled "The Theology of Sleep" where he preached on the parable of the sower and how our job as pastors is just to "sow the seed" of the gospel, go to sleep, and let God take care of the rest. In my moments of great discouragement when I may not be noticing as much fruit from my ministry labors, I replay that message and listen to it again.

I remember sitting with my buddies in seminary watching YouTube clips of MacArthur on Larry King Live and was amazed at how no matter what the topic was, he always would always work to direct the discussion to the authority of Scripture and the gospel message. It was said of William Tyndale that he was always singing one note in asking the king of England to give his endorsement to a Bible in the people's language so everyone could read and learn from it themselves. Well, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture served as the "one note" MacArthur kept singing or preaching.

When his study Bible came out in the New American Standard Bible and was on sale when I was in college, I had to get it. I wound up cutting my theological teeth so to speak on his study notes. To date, I have now wore out two or three of them and currently use his newest one in the Legacy Standard Bible translation he helped oversee. A generous Christmas gift from the congregation where I was serving as interim pastor purchased the bulk of his New Testament Commentaries. (There were a few yet to be completed at the time which now I have acquired.) I continue to consult those commentaries whenever I am preaching something from the New Testament. They are so invaluable with the clear explanation of the text and practical applications of it. Many a time when I find myself stumped trying to figure out what something in the passage means, I can open the commentary to that page and read MacArthur's explanation and it finally makes sense. (And if not MacArthur, another John with the last name Calvin.) The Systematic Theology ("Biblical Theology") that he and the professors at his seminary put together quickly became my "go to" of the collection I have. With the possible exception of Joel Beeke's recent four volume tome, it is by far the most thorough of all of them. It pretty much covers just about all that Scripture says on an issue and is just what you need when researching a topic. With all this said, I don't agree with MacArthur on everything. I would differ from him when it comes to the identity of the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 seeing them as being the descendants of Seth rather than fallen angels, divorce and remarriage (holding to a stricter view), and now understanding of the end times (no longer being a premillennialism but an optimistic amillennialist). Nonetheless, I still value his perspective and know that it will be backed up with Scripture to be considered and evaluated.

One of my desires for a while was to be able to hear him preach in person. (It is always better to hear and see someone preach in person than on TV, the computer screen, your phone, or on the radio.) I got so excited when I heard that a local church in Maryland not too far from my seminary was having "An Evening With John MacArthur.". I quickly got a bunch of free tickets for me and my friends for it before I even asked any of them to go. We were going and they were coming with me! Boy, was I bummed when they had to cancel it because the publisher of John's latest book at the time required him to do something for it. I thought that might have been my only shot at seeing him. California is quite a distance away and probably not feasible for me to ever make it out to. But thankfully, in God's good and gracious providence, I wound up being able to go to the Together for the Gospel Conference (T4G) in 2014 in Louisville, KY, where he was one of the main speakers. I was finally in a place where I could see and hear him in person. He presented himself as an elder statesmen just getting up behind the pulpit and preaching what Scripture says and what it means by what it says. That was the only time I ever was given that opportunity. I would loved to have shook his hand to express my appreciation to him personally for the impact of his ministry on me but that will now have to wait until we meet in heaven.

There are two things in particular about MacArthur that have probably encouraged me the most in my view and philosophy of ministry. One is his faithfulness at one place for such a long time. He served the same church and preached behind the pulpit there for 56 years. In a day and age where most pastors remain at a congregation for no more than 5 or 6 years and then move on to another followed by another, this is remarkable. It led to me wanting to have a similar longevity in my own ministry if the Lord would allow such of course. To labor for a number of years discipling families and pouring into them. I actually toyed around with the idea of becoming a seminary or college professor while in seminary due to my love of biblical scholarship and teaching. But I didn't like the idea of having the students for only three or four years and no more. Not being able to follow up with them much after that. What I have witnessed MacArthur do was much more desirable for me. At 14 years at this point I have got quite a ways yet to go! And I am already at the point where I am beginning to baptize some of those I had the privilege of dedicating as a baby in their mom or dad's arms praise the Lord!

The second thing with his ministry that has greatly encouraged me in my own is his commitment to sequential expository preaching. That is preaching verse by verse through entire books of the Bible. In fact, God has granted him the privilege of achieving a feat that only a few have in history; preaching through every single verse of the New Testament. (Though I do wish that he would have preached more from the Old Testament. I try to give the congregation under my charge a healthy balance, alternating between preaching through a book from the New Testament and the Old. We need a robust understanding of the types, shadows, and prophecies of Christ there as much as we do the antitypes, substance, and fulfillment of Christ in the New. And I write this right after having just finished preaching through the book of Leviticus and planning on starting Ephesians soon.) MacArthur is actually the one who in a real sense showed me how to do this. I witnessed him do so week after week as I listened to his preaching. I may not have known that it was even possible to do that had I not come in contact with his ministry. Now, it has become my practice and I believe that it is the best way to ensure that I am proclaiming the whole counsel of God without neglecting any of the hard uncomfortable topics Scripture talks about.

And while my oldest son was not named after him, it could be said that MacArthur is one of his namesakes. One of the main reasons he is called "John" is due to the meaning of the name being "God is gracious," acknowledging that God has been gracious to hear our prayer for him (his middle name "Samuel" means "God hears"). But also it was to honor the rich legacy of the numerous theologians who loved the Lord and His Word throughout the history of the church who were named John which would certainly include MacArthur but not be limited to him. (I believe that I have counted up to 30 at one point from John the Baptist to John Calvin to John Bunyan and John Owen to John Charles (JC) Ryle to John Piper and John MacArthur.)

John MacArthur has been sometimes called the Charles Spurgeon or John Calvin of our time and I would agree with that. In many ways, he had been fighting a modern day theological downgrade much as Spurgeon had in his day and has the tenacity of Calvin with the same steadfast unwavering commitment to verse by verse preaching through books of the Bible as the French Reformer. (Calvin was SO committed to verse by verse preaching that when he came back to Geneva after having been forced out three years prior, he actually began preaching on the verse he had left off on when he had left!) His impact and influence will be felt long after he is gone much like theirs still are as well. His set of commentaries actually are right next to my set of Calvin's on the shelf in my office.

And now, at 86, MacArthur has reached the end of his race with his work in his ministry completed. Following Paul, he can say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8). John MacArthur goes up with what it looks like to finish well. He didn't retire early to take it easy and just enjoy whatever leisure he wanted to the rest of his life. He kept preaching literally up to the point where his health would not allow him to continue. And I'm sure he would have been back up in the pulpit again had the Lord willed him to get better and prolong his days more. With him, there were no major scandals. (Some have certainly tried to pin something on him but usually further research into the claims revealed that certain things in the reports had been left out or were intentionally skewed in a specific way to lead to a conclusion that the full facts did not support.) There was no infidelity to his wife. No veering from core doctrine or commitment to the truth of the Word of God in any way. He didn't capitulate to the culture or begin to water down any hard truths or teachings as so many others wind up doing in their sunset years. He remained "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" and it is clear that his labor was not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).

I am sure though that this will not be the end of God using him and his rich impressive preaching and teaching material which remains. As, like Abel, though dead, he will still speak through his sermons and books. More lives can still be touched and impacted by God's Spirit working through the Word he preached. Personally, I will forever be grateful for the gift that God has given His church with his preaching and teaching ministry. I know that I am not the only one who can say that. I would not be the minister that I am today without it. Thank God for His using this flawed weak man to impact so many lives with the gospel and may He continue to do so with what he has left behind to outlive him so to speak! To God be all the glory!

Setting the Record Straight on Slavery in Scripture

2025-06-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

A major sticking point for many people today is over what Scripture says about slavery. Throughout history, Christians have argued both for and against slavery by appealing to the Bible’s statements regarding it. Some will use the allowance of it for the Jews and all the regulations given for the practice with no explicit condemnation of it as a whole as a way to dismiss the Bible and Christianity all together or to call into question what the Bible teaches on other topics which are viewed as old fashioned or out of date in our modern culture such as homosexuality and the different roles of men and women both in the home and in the church. They claim that if the Bible supports slavery which is recognized as being wrong today, it must also be wrong in presenting homosexuality as a sinful relationship and women not serving as the head of the home or as prominent leaders in the church as well. And when a Christian is asked to explain how the Bible can seem to have any positive view of slavery in light of what we know about it today, a good number frankly don’t know how to respond. My aim in this article for this month is to set the record straight on slavery in Scripture so to speak. To help clear through the fog on this matter so that we can better know how to answer the “but what about slavery in the Bible?” question from the skeptics and not be so confused about the issue as much ourselves.

The first thing we need to recognize when it comes to how the Bible addresses slavery is that the slavery it speaks of is not the same slavery as that which typically comes to our mind whenever we hear the word. There are a number of major differences between the kind of slavery that characterized our nation’s past as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and that which was practiced and regulated by the law for the Jews. For one thing, the slavery we read about in the Bible was not based on race or ethnicity. In fact, most were fellow Jews who either had fallen on hard times and decided to sell themselves to someone to be their slave for their own livelihood or who wound up selling themselves into slavery to someone to pay a debt they owed to them but didn’t have the money for (Leviticus 25:39, 47). This condition of slavery was not to be permanent for any of the Jews either. They were only to serve as such for at most six years and then be set free on the seventh (Deuteronomy 15:12). All Hebrew slaves were to be set free every 50 years for the year of Jubilee to return to their family and the family’s land (Leviticus 25:40-41). There was also an opportunity for redemption of the slave to have their freedom purchased before this year of Jubilee by a near relative or if the slave was able to raise up the money himself, he could buy back his own freedom (vv. 48-49). Their time of service to their master would be temporary.

This type of slavery was also much more humane in contrast with the slavery which marred our country’s history. Slaves were to be viewed and treated as persons and not just property. If a slave was struck to death by his or her master, that master was to be punished (Exodus 21:20). If the master severely injured the slave in any way, such as wounding their eye or knocking out one of their teeth, the slave was to be set free (vv. 26-27). Twice the people were reminded that they were not to have dominion over their slaves “with brutality” (Leviticus 25:43, 46), always remembering how they themselves had served as slaves in Egypt but God mercifully and kindly redeeming them out of such bondage (Deuteronomy 15:15). They were not even to treat their fellow Jewish slaves as slaves but more like hired hands or employees (Leviticus 25:39-40). When it came time to release the slave at the seventh year, the master was required to send him or her off with a generous amount of provisions for him or her to be able to live on their own (Deuteronomy 15:13-14). If a man purchased a slave to serve as a wife for his son, he was to treat her as he would his daughter (Exodus 21:9). And if the son decides to choose another woman in place of that slave, he was forbidden from reducing the slave’s food, clothes, or marital relations (v. 10). And if he did do such, the slave was to be set free without any price given for her freedom. All of these regulations ensured that the slaves were seen as persons made in God’s image and protected their dignity and worth. Even with the case of foreign slaves captured by war which were not subject to the Jubilee provision and were permanent being seen as slaves, the practice could still be said to be merciful as this saved the individual from being killed and provided for them (Leviticus 25:44-46).

Some slaves may have had such a good experience with their master that they desired to remain their slave and forfeit the freedom which could be theirs. On account of this, a provision was even made for a slave to stay his master’s slave if he wanted to (Exodus 21:5-6; Deuteronomy 15:16-17). And the kidnapping and selling of persons which was so much a part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade back in the 1800s was prohibited for the Jews and even punishable by the death penalty (Exodus 21:16). There really is no comparison between the slavery discussed in the Bible and that which was practiced in our nation’s past.

It should be pointed out that nowhere does God ever command for the Israelites to have slaves or take slaves for themselves. The law simply regulated the institution of slavery which had already been in practice at the time and goes all the way back to at least Abraham, possibly from his pagan days before the Lord called him out of such to serve Him as seen with the presence of Eliezer and Hagar serving as his and his wife’s slaves (Genesis 15-16). It never created or called for the institution of such. This is similar to the situation of divorce which clearly goes against God’s good and wise design for a man to leave his father and mother and cleave to his one wife until death parts the two of them (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:10). Such was only granted on account of the hardness of man’s heart (Matthew 19:8; Mark 10:5) It was never prescribed or commanded by God for a couple to get divorced. But since it sometimes occurs due to sin, God provided laws to prevent widespread divorce for any and every reason and to govern it so it wouldn’t become out of control which was bound to happen if people are left to themselves. Slavery was an institution which God never expressly designed for man but which He regulated so as to prevent abuses and unfair treatment of those who bear His image.

When we come to the New Testament, we find that the concern with slavery is not over the moral right or wrongness of it or even the abolishment of the system but how the gospel brings about a transformation of the individuals within it. The authors are more concerned with the way the Christian master is now to view and relate to his slave or the Christian slave his master in light of the new identity he or she presently has in Christ (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Peter 2:18). Also, in how both slave and free are equal in status in Christ and should be treated as such in the church (Galatians 3:28). Paul even pleads with Philemon regarding his runaway slave Onesimus, who had then become a Christian, to receive him back as not just a slave but as a brother in the Lord as well (Philemon 10-17).

Instead of calling for believing slaves to revolt or believing masters to release all of their slaves, Paul says that each person should remain in the place they were when the Lord had called them to salvation (1 Corinthians 7:20, 24). If they were free, not to sell themselves into slavery (vv. 22-23). If they were a slave, not to worry about it. Though, he does add that if they do have the opportunity given to them to become free, that they should take advantage of that (v. 21).

The reason why no instructions are given for the church to seek an end to the practice of slavery is because the job of the church is not to change or reform society but to proclaim the gospel by which men and women are saved. Any social transformation which would take place is a byproduct of that work. As more people become Christians in any area, there is bound to be significant changes resulting from the difference in perspective and practice which comes from the Holy Spirit making someone new. This is exactly what we see happen with the early church as recorded in the book of Acts. The church focused on preaching the gospel and devoted itself to that work. They did not attempt to change the earthly government or its laws. There was no call for the church to strive to put idol shops out of business or to do away with fortune telling. Yet, some idol makers did wind up losing business as a number of people no longer went to them to purchase one of their fake gods since they had “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9) (Acts 19:24-27). Those dealing with selling witchcraft books would have taken a hit with new believers giving up their practicing of magic, burning their books and not purchasing any more (v. 19). We need to keep in mind that while it was Christians such as William Wilberforce who led to the abolishment of slavery, they were a product of a church which was concerned with preaching and teaching the gospel and not attacking and overturning the social ills of the day. He served faithfully where the Lord had providentially placed him with the new character and perspective the new birth had given him as a result of the gospel being proclaimed.

Even though slavery has such a negative connotation for us today due to our association of it with the type of slavery which characterized our nation’s past, the Bible uses such as an analogy for our relationship with the Lord. Back in the law in Leviticus 25, the Jews are considered to be God’s slaves (vv. 42, 55). Paul, Peter, James, and Jude had no problem referring themselves and other believers as a “slave” or “slaves” “of Christ” (Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 7:22; Galatians 1:10; Ephesians 6:6; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 4:12; Titus 1:1; James 1:1; 1 Peter 2:16; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1; Revelation 1:1). Most of our English translations try to soften this by using “servant” in these cases but the actual Greek word means “slave.” This causes us to miss the tremendous truth of what it even means to be a Christian. A Christian is Christ’s slave in the sense that he or she belongs to Him. He or she has given up the rights to himself or herself no longer to do whatever he or she wants. Jesus now serves as their Master whom they owe their full and complete obedience. He has bought their freedom from being slaves to sin at the cost of His very life in order to make them His slaves. The reason why Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were not free to sleep with whomever they chose was because “you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

In a sense, everyone is a slave. The question really is who is your master?. Is it sin which rules over you and whose desires you follow or Jesus? As Paul told the Romans, a Christian has been saved from being a slave to sin to be freed to become a slave of righteousness (6:18). And this designation of being Christ’s slave should not scare us or make us uncomfortable. After all, it is the greatest privilege to be His slave and have Him as our Master. In ancient times, slaves of royal dignitaries typically had the same status of their master. They weren’t just seen as any ordinary slave but the king’s slaves belonging to Him! Keep in mind that we couldn’t have any better, greater, or kinder Master who takes such wonderful care of us providing for us all of our needs. In light of Who He is and all He has done for us, why wouldn’t we want to be entirely devoted to Him as His slave? And we are even more than His slave!. Scripture tells us that He also counts us as His friends and part of His family (John 15:15; Galatians 4:7)! It was very rare for any slave ever to be adopted into the master’s family and given the master’s inheritance or even to be known as the master’s friend. However, that is exactly what God has done with those who are united to His Son by faith. So, let’s be sure to explain to our friends the negative aspects of slavery the Bible condemns all the while talking about the slavery to sin we all have experienced and need freed from as well as the blessed privilege and joy of being Christ’s slave by His grace through faith in Jesus.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

The Selection of a New Pope: A Cause for Celebration or Continual Concern?

2025-05-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

When the news broke a couple of weeks ago that a new pope had been chosen for the Roman Catholic Church, I was in a hospital waiting room with the family of one of our members who was having emergency surgery. Very quickly, this became the talk of the morning and surpassed any other conversation which had been going on. I listened as many expressed their excitement over the news and hopes for how this pope would lead. Tens of thousands who were gathered at the Vatican the moment the announcement occurred broke out in cheers and tears. It was seen as a momentous event and one of great celebration. However, rather than the election of a new pope being a cause for celebration, it should be one of continual concern for us. Not because of Robert Francis Prevost specifically who now occupies the office as Pope Leo XIV but due to the office itself. Both the nature of it and the teachings it represents and promotes.

First, we should have concerns about the office of the pope and the papacy itself. There is no place in Scripture for any man to have the authority that has been given to the pope in the Catholic Church. He is seen as the supreme visible head of the church. That role has already been taken though by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one ever described as being the head of the church with no indication that He would ever share such an honored status with any others (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15; 5:23). The church is not said to have two heads but just that One. And while the Catholic Church has attempted to make the claim that Peter served as the first pope with every other succeeding one supposedly continuing his supreme authority, such an assertion does not hold any water with Scripture. Peter did not see himself as being any greater than other pastors in the church or as a supreme authority over them but rather was content to describe himself as being “a fellow elder” of theirs in 1 Peter 5:1. For that matter, nowhere do the other apostles treat Peter as superior to them or having a special authority over them. In settling the dispute over what to require of the Gentile converts, it is James’ judgment that is accepted by the apostles, elders, and the whole church with everyone sending a select group of men with the letter summarizing their decision (Acts 15). Peter is not the one making this decision over and for the others. Nor did he make the official judgment agreed upon. Paul even rebukes him when he was in the wrong (Galatians 2:11-14). And when it comes to Peter’s specific connection to Jesus’ words about building His church on the rock with the gates of hell not prevailing against it along with the keys of the kingdom being given to him in Matthew 16:18-19, it must not be forgotten that this declaration of the Lord’s came AFTER Peter’s confession of who Jesus is (v. 16) and that later all the apostles are acknowledged as serving a foundational role for the construction of the church (Ephesians 2:19-21). Those same keys to the kingdom and the binding and loosing power which goes with them are mentioned again in reference to the church as a whole in Matthew 18:18. There is no evidence that Peter had been singled out to serve as the father or papa of all other leaders in the church.

It is also very concerning the titles the Pope holds in his office. Titles which really are only appropriate for the triune God Himself. In fact, the Pope carries a specific title that would fit each one of the persons of the Trinity alone. He is called “Holy Father” which is exactly the phrase Jesus uses for God the Father in His high priestly prayer in John 17:11. Our Savior certainly was not praying to an earthly bishop or pope! The kind of elevation of someone with this sort of title is exactly what Jesus spoke against when He said, “And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9). The Pope, along with every priest in the Catholic Church, is also referred to as being an “alter Christus,” Latin for “another Christ,” equating them with the second person of the Trinity. The Pope is known as well as “the Vicar of Christ;” “the representative or substitute of Christ” on this earth. The problem with this title is that it is already taken too. The One whom Jesus sent to serve as His representative or substitute now in His physical absence is the Holy Spirit. He is the One who continues Jesus’ work, bears witness about Him, and delivers His words to the apostles who in turn wrote them down for us (John 14:16-17, 16; 15:26; 16:8-15). No mere man was sent or appointed to such a position. With the bearing of these titles of the Trinity, the Pope in essence is declared to be God. This is further the case with his official declarations (referred to as “ex cathedra” or “from his chair”) being viewed and treated as if they are equal in weight and authority to Christ’s words themselves. As if they are on par with Scripture or even to be considered as Scripture. They are considered to be infallible or without error as the words of the Bible are.

Along with concerns about the office of the pope, we should be concerned as well with the teaching of the pope as he upholds problematic Catholic doctrine in regards to the gospel. The Roman Catholic Church can be said to add to the gospel by claiming that works are necessary for one to be saved. That we have to cooperate with the grace that God gives for salvation through participating in the sacraments to receive the righteousness we need to be accepted by God. The Catholic Church claims that one must be baptized in order for their original sin to be removed and to be infused with righteousness. Then, when they lose that righteousness by doing a mortal sin, which is never clearly defined, they must go to a priest for confession, do some sort of penance prescribed by the priest, and attend the Mass in order to get it back. This cycle is to continue each time the person does a mortal sin. The Bible, on the other hand, makes it clear that our salvation is all of grace with the only thing we can contribute to it being the sin that makes it necessary. It says instead: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; NOT OF WORKS, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). “But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, NOT BY WORKS WHICH WE DID IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7). Abraham we are told was counted or considered to be righteous on the basis of his faith in the Lord and His promise of salvation alone (Genesis 15:6). He had not done any righteous deeds to merit or earn such a declaration or consideration at all. Any works of obedience he did, such as being willing to sacrifice his son on the altar as God had commanded (Genesis 22), FOLLOWED his faith to demonstrate the reality of it. Not to contribute to him being considered as righteous before the Lord in any way. That consideration had already been made through his faith. And the thief on the cross is the case of someone who never was baptized, never attended a mass, did not confess his sins to a priest, did no penance or participated in any sacrament but got to heaven as indicated with the promise of Jesus for him to be with Him in paradise that very day (Luke 23:39-43). All that man had was faith in Christ and we see that that faith was enough.

The Catholic Church says that Mary serves as an additional mediator for our salvation along with Jesus. According to the official Catholic Catechism, Mary holds the title of “mediatrix”. Paul could not be any clearer though that “For there is one God, and ONE MEDIATOR also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Adding Mary as a mediator is yet another way the Catholic Church can be seen as adding to the gospel.

The Catholic Church can be said to subtract from the gospel with their teachings on purgatory, the necessity of participating in the sacraments for salvation, and the mass as offering up Jesus’ body and blood again as an unbloody sacrifice. All of these indicate that Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf was not sufficient and final to atone for or cover our sins and grant forgiveness of them. They communicate that something more must be done in addition to His work or that His sacrifice needs to be repeated. There is no reason for a purging of sin to take place when the gospel declares that Jesus took care of all of our sins in His death in our place, He cleanses us of ALL of our unrighteousness, and that there is no judgment which awaits the believer after death (John 5:24; 1 John 1:7, 9; Romans 5:9; 8:1). When Jesus declared that “it is finished” right before His death (John 19:30), He meant that nothing more needed to be done to secure our salvation for us. His work was enough and complete. It takes away from that work to teach that something more needs to be done either by or to us to atone for our sins.

A popular evangelist right after Pope Francis’ death called for Christians to pray for the Catholic Church in the choosing of their new pope. The concern we ought to have about the existence of the office of the pope itself should lead us to pray instead that the Catholic Church would have its eyes open to see the unbiblical nature of such a position and the error of its distortions of the gospel to do away with such and teach what Scripture says instead without any additions or subtractions to Christ’s saving work. And to reach out in love to our Catholic friends and family to point out to them the truth of Scripture so that they too can see the concern instead of the celebration we should have for the pope.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

The Christian and Politics

2025-04-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

We live in a very highly politicized culture currently. Probably more so now than ever before it seems. The news networks appear to be seeking to do everything possible to get us to take sides and further the partisan divide of the country. Our Facebooks, X accounts, and other social media are constantly bombarded by the political opinions and feelings of our friends or those who we may be following. We have people saying that the President can do nothing right and those on the other hand who always defend him from having ever done anything wrong. It is so easy, if we are not careful, to get sucked into all the political infighting and lose sight of how we are to conduct ourselves as Christ’s ambassadors whose citizenship ultimately lies in heaven, not here on earth. My hope in this month’s article is to encourage us to maintain the proper perspective in our politics as we seek to best represent Christ during our time on this earth and, specifically, in this great country the Lord in His sovereignty has placed us to live in for such a time as this.

In everything we do on this earth, we must not forget that we are to view ourselves as being “strangers and exiles” here. Peter reminded the Christian readers of his first letter that this was true of them when he wrote, “Beloved, I urge you AS SOJOURNERS AND EXILES to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (2:11). We always need to keep in mind that this earth is not our ultimate home. None of us will be living in the United States forever. As Paul told the Philippians, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by His working through which He is able to even subject all things to Himself” (3:20-21). Now, this doesn’t mean that we have nothing to do with the politics of this world or in our nation. Only that our involvement in it is to be in light of our temporary status here with the constant mindset that what matters even more is preparing ourselves and others for our eternal home. As I have said before, I believe that Jeremiah’s instruction to the Jews as they were being taken into exile in Babylon fits well for us in our current exile so to speak in the modern day Babylon we find ourselves in at the moment. He told them to basically build houses in the land and raise families there as well as “seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Yahweh on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:5-7). Of course, they were to do that all the while maintaining their identity as being God’s people and remembering that such a land was not where they would stay indefinitely. Daniel and his three friends serve as a good model for us with this. They certainly were aware and involved in the politics of the day as seen with them serving as the king’s advisors. However, they never compromised their “Christian” identity nor lost sight of the fact that their true and more lasting home did not lie there but elsewhere. This is why they refused to eat and drink the king’s choice food and wine (Daniel 1:8), join everyone else in bowing down to the king’s idolatrous statue (3:12), pray to the king (6:10-13), and continued to pray towards the city of Jerusalem during the times of the sacrifices (6:10; 9:21) even though they weren’t presently there and the temple had been destroyed. Maintaining such a perspective of us being strangers and exiles here helps keep us from getting overly involved in politics and buying into the lie that whatever X, Y, or Z politician does or doesn’t do is of ultimate consequence and that we need to fight tooth and nail either for it or against it or else.

Concerning the President, to borrow something a dear friend of mine from my seminary days has said, he should not be seen or treated as either Satan or the Savior. As either evil incarnate himself or the perfect one who can save this country and fix all of its problems. We clearly see both caricatures of him on both sides politically right now. But when it comes down to it, he is no different than we are. Just another sinner in need of salvation. We ought to criticize his actions when they deserve such as he is not perfect and makes his share of mistakes like the rest of us. Only, his mistakes are known much more widely and can have far greater consequences than most of ours. We absolutely should commend him when he does well. And, in these past three months in office, we can find plenty of both. The duties Scripture gives us towards the president are threefold. We are to submit to his authority over us as long as such does not require us to go against what God has commanded (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13-14; Daniel 1:8; 3:12-18; 6:10; Acts 4:18-20). We are to honor and respect our leaders due to the nature of the office they hold (Romans 13:7; 1 Peter 2:17). Keep in mind that Paul and Peter wrote that when Nero was the emperor of Rome; certainly not a good righteous leader and no friend to Christians. (In fact, he is the one to later have both of them executed for their faith and intentionally caught the city of Rome on fire and blamed the Christians for it.) And, most importantly, we are to pray for our leaders, with our greatest concern being for their salvation (1 Timothy 2:1-6). To neglect any of these, regardless whether the leader may have an “R” or a “D” next to their name is to ignore or disregard God’s word in this matter.

And, finally, when it comes to the Christian’s involvement in politics, we need always to keep the main thing the main thing. Paul points out in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 that our primary role which underlies everything else we do is to be an “ambassador for Christ,” pleading with people to be reconciled to God through the work of Christ on behalf of all of those who by grace believe in Him. This means that our greater concern with our family, friends, and neighbors are not with what political party they may be registered with or who they voted for in the last election but more so whether or not they know Jesus and where they are going to spend eternity. We should not view someone with a different political persuasion than us as being our enemy, but rather, if they don’t know the Lord, see them as part of our mission field. I fear that all too often we wind up joining in with those of the world mocking and deriding those on the other side of the political aisle and share the memes on Facebook making fun of them or portraying those with a certain view in a very negative light leading to a wall being put up between us and them for them never to give us a hearing of the gospel. Something that could lead to a shutting off of any further potential conversation with them about Someone far greater than the President and matters which transcend politics in importance. The only offense we should desire to give to others is that of the gospel. Not their political perspective or what they may think about the President and what he does. The more I ponder this matter, the more I find myself in agreement with D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ perspective articulated a century ago. He said, "We hear so much today about defending western civilization from attack. That is all wrong. As a Christian, I am not primarily concerned about western civilization. I am interested in the kingdom of God. And I am as anxious that men and women behind the iron curtain should be saved as men on this cement on this side of the iron curtain should be saved. We must not take up a position of antagonism towards those who we want to win to Christ."

So, as we have to deal with the ongoing onslaught of political information and banter, let’s be sure that we are known to handle these things much differently than those in the world. In a way that reflects a mindset of being “strangers and exiles,” with prayer for and honor and respect towards the President and his cabinet, and as an ambassador of Christ seeking to win people to Christ before winning them over to our political party or candidate.

With My Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

A Major Issue in Our Society Today: What Pete Hegseth's Confirmation Hearing Revealed

2025-01-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing for secretary of defense last week was full of contentious moments as he was grilled over his positions and past. One of the things which sparked controversy for his appointment were statements he has made regarding women serving in the military. Specifically, how he has expressed concern of women serving in combat roles.

The fact that this generated such a vehement response by some lawmakers I believe reveals how far we have come as a nation and ultimately gets at the heart of most of our issues today. Rebellion against God's designed and established gender differences. It all really goes back to the feminist movement in the 70s which held to the perspective perhaps articulated best by a modification of Annie Oakley's song in the musical, "Annie Get Your Gun." "Anything a man can do, a woman can do, only better." This has led to women stepping into traditional male roles and even the infamous horrendous but rightly overturned Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade. One of the leading reasons for it was to ensure that a woman would have the same opportunity and freedom as men do. An unwanted pregnancy could hinder that. It lies at the heart of the transgender revolution and the push from some for men to participate and compete in women sports against other women. It can even be seen in the church with the acceptance and practice of women serving as pastors. We have gotten to the place now where the distinction between the sexes or genders have become so distorted and blurred that some cannot even judge or describe what a woman actually is! This is also is why women have even been allowed to serve in the military in the first place and in combat roles.

Interestingly enough, having women go out into combat really is a recent practice. It dates just back to the year 2016 after the ban against it was announced to be lifted in 2013. Before such, it would have been relatively unheard of in just about every culture. Try as you may, you will not find any warrior women in the Bible. It was the men who were always sent out into war. We see this in the census' of the young men to go into the military in the book of Numbers (1:2-15; 26:2-51). (This is actually how the book of Numbers got its name. The two "numbers" or census' counted both in the beginning and at the end of it.) We are told of King David's mighty MEN (2 Samuel 23:8-39; 1 Chronicles 11:10-47). Not his mighty WOMEN. Now, some may say, "what about Deborah? Wasn't she a warrior serving as a judge?" Actually, she was not. In fact, when the time to go to battle came, she called on a man named Barak to fight and lead the troops (Judges 4:6-7). It was only because of his cowardice and refusal to go without her that led to her accompanying him for combat (vv. 8-9). But, even then, the rebuke for Barak was the humiliation of the victory being given to a woman. That woman being Jael (vv. 17-22).

This cannot be limited to a cultural thing at the time either. Keep in mind that the Jewish culture and the church both were shaped by the revelation of God's Word. The reason as to why women were not even considered to be sent out into the military was because God had made it clear His different but complimentary design for men and women. How men have been intended and called to lead, provide, and protect women with women to serve as their helpers under their authority in glorifying God in the work He has for them to do. We see this right with the very creation of the first man and woman (Genesis 2:4-25). Paul points out that the order of God creating man first before the woman indicates men being designed and called to lead (1 Timothy 2:13). The very purpose for the creation of women is even designated as to "serve as a helper for him" (Genesis 2:18). And when everything went down in the garden with man's fall into sin, it is telling that it is the man God confronts first and who He holds accountable for what had taken place (3:9). Adam had a responsibility to his wife to lead and protect her so it is only natural for Him to be knocking on Adam's door to inquire with the man of the house for those under his watch. Although as a result of the fall, a woman's desire will be to overtake the authority of her husband (and perhaps men in general), God states that this doesn't not change His intention for the man "to rule [or lead] over you" (v. 16). (The verb for "desire" used in this verse is the same one found in the next chapter where God warns Cain that sin desires to overtake him in his anger and jealousy that he must rule over (4:7). So, this is not a positive desire or indicating that the woman will be attracted to her husband. It should be taken the same way as a negative desire to overtake the husband and his rightful authority like the sin did for Cain.) In Deuteronomy 10:18, we are told that God steps in to take care of the fatherless and widow. "He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows love for the sojourner by giving him food and clothing." He needs to do so because the father or husband is gone leaving the child or woman without their provider and protector. While widows today are not necessarily as dependent upon their husbands to survive, the principal of the design of a man to serve as the primary provider and protector of the family clearly can be seen with these verses.

And there are great and lasting consequences with this. Children get less of mom or women choose to have less of children due to them stepping into the role of military combatants alongside the men who are the ones to risk their lives to love, serve, and protect the women and children at home. The same also could be said about the "career woman" who is more concerned with promotions at her job than the promotion of her children in their growth at home. How many children have been hurt by not having mom as present with them and devoted to them but having to spend much of their time in daycare or dealing with a distracted mom instead? The impact this has on our society is more far-reaching than it may first appear. But, then again, should be surprised as such? That is always the case whenever we go against God's good, wise, and perfect plan and design for anything.

My intention with this post has not been to demean any of our women who have or are bravely serving in the military, being willing to lay down their lives if necessary for our freedom. I greatly appreciate their courage and willingness. But at the same time, we should recognize that many of them may have a much higher calling and greater battles to fight than with the troops overseas or abroad. Their meaningful warfare takes place at home with the little warriors they are given to raise and prepare for future service in the Lord's army as He wills. Ultimately, that should not be neglected. As Pete Hegseth put it in his book, "Dads push us to take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially in combat units." And perhaps the reason this has become so controversial today stems from us forsaking the good, wise, different, and complementary roles God has designed for men and women in general. It would be so good for us to get back to that for the betterment and welfare of our society and its families.

How to Avoid Falling Into Sexual Temptation

2025-01-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

We live today in a very hypersexualized culture. Sexual temptation is everywhere. On our TVs, computers, even in the palm of our hand. It all is just a click or press away. It can be found in the popular romance novels your friends may be reading and wanting to share with you or the blockbuster hit movie everyone is seeing that you might be curious about yourself. You can be watching a clean show or YouTube video only to have it interrupted by a sensual scene in a commercial or ad popping up. The billboard you casually notice while driving down the road or the how someone is dressed at the mall or grocery store. Sexual temptation is something we all have to deal with in some form or fashion. There is no way around it unless we cut off all types of communication with the outside world, but even then, it will still be able to find us. What is needed is knowing how to avoid falling into such whenever it presents itself to us. Thankfully, God’s Word gives us at least 8 different ways we can go about avoiding succumbing to the sexual temptation all around us. There are probably many more we could list as well but we will limit ourselves just to the following eight for now. We’ll look at four of them this month and pick up on the rest of them in next month’s article. To help us better keep them in mind in the moment when the temptation strikes, I have found a word for each of them which begins with the letter “R”.

The first way for us to avoid falling into sexual temptation is to BE READY. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). It is the very moment when we think that this is something that can or never will happen to us that we are the most susceptible to fall into such temptation. When we let our guard down, we are no longer watching or ready for the temptation to strike and we in turn can easily be blindsided by it. Then, the next thing we know, we are knee deep in it. There is a good chance that the disaster of the Titanic may have been avoided if the ship’s crew would have taken the warnings about icebergs in the area more seriously and had been better prepared for the worst to happen. But they all were so convinced that the ship was unsinkable that they were not as careful and watchful concerning those warnings and wound up facing the dire consequences that now have gone down in history. Don’t foolishly believe that you may be “unsinkable” by sexual temptation or that it won’t have any affect on you. Always be mindful that any of us could easily slip when faced with it causing us to fall headfirst into it. As it has been said, “Unless you are wiser than the wisest man in the Bible, stronger than the strongest man in the Bible, or have a better heart than the man after God’s own heart, don’t think for a moment that you are above falling into sexual sin.” Solomon, Samson, and David weren’t and we certainly are not smarter, stronger, or more after God’s own heart than any of them. This is why every time I hear of another big name high profile pastor being discovered to have been involved in some sort of sexual scandal or affair, I don’t say to myself, “How could this have happened to them?” but “How easy that could be me if I am not careful or let my guard down?” We all can only be one step or two away from falling. And that step begins right when we think we could not fall prey to it. When we are not ready for the sexual temptation to occur and what might happen should we give in to it.

Another thing we are told to do when faced with sexual temptation is to RUN. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:18 that we are to “flee sexual immorality.” Not stay around it. Not flirt or play with it. Not see how far we can get before crossing the line into sin. Not even to entertain the possibility of it. But to get as far away from it as possible. Just like Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife made advances towards him. He didn’t stick around for a minute to even consider giving into that temptation. He literally dropped everything and got out of there! (Genesis 39:12). Whenever sexual temptation presents itself to us, we must turn quickly and go the other way, not looking back as did Lot’s wife (Genesis 19:26; Luke 17:32). And I should point out that the command in this verse to “flee” is in the present tense. We must continue to run the other direction away from sexual temptation.

The third way to avoid falling into sexual temptation is REMAIN where you are supposed to be and not go where you shouldn’t. There is an interesting often overlooked detail in the account of David’s fall into sexual sin that we would do well not to miss. At the very start of the chapter, before David ever laid eyes on Bathsheba, we are told, “Now it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). Pay attention to that last sentence. David should have went out to war with his soldiers that Spring as normal but instead chose not to. Had he been where he was supposed to be, in this case, he never would have done what he was not supposed to do with Bathsheba. If we do not visit those websites we are not supposed to be looking at or go those places the Lord would not have us to go, we would not find ourselves involved in sexual sin in the first place. If we would remain where the Lord would have us to be according to His Word and not go where temptation knowingly lies.

And the place God has for us to find our pleasure and sexual satisfaction in this life is with our husband or wife. Solomon puts it this way in his proverbs, “Drink water from your own cistern and fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for you alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and be glad in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be intoxicated with her love. So why should you, my son, be intoxicated with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?” (Proverbs 5:15-20). Remain drinking from the well God has graciously given you and you won’t be as easily tempted to look to another one instead. And if you do not have a husband or wife to drink from we could say, or circumstances may be hindering it, seek the Lord while you wait for one or things to change. Don’t start looking for other wells or even consider the thought of possibly tasting any of them!

A fourth way to avoid giving into sexual temptation is to RESOLVE not to look lustfully at someone other than your spouse. Job made a commitment not to do this. He said, “I have cut a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). Resolve that the moment you see an image you have no business looking at, that you will turn your head and refuse to entertain it in your mind. Say to yourself in that very instant, “I will not give this another glance or a thought.” Martin Luther put it well when he said, “Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.” Prevent sexual temptation from even beginning to build a nest in your hair by vowing not to give it any more attention once it flies over your head so to speak.

Something else we must do to avoid falling prey to sexual sin is to strive to be RID of it and its underlying desire. In Romans 8:12-13 we are told, “So then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.” Part of living the Christian life is to be actively putting to death those sins presently a part of our lives and the desires which lead to them. It is declaring war on them and doing everything you can, with the strength and power the Holy Spirit gives you, to work to eradicate them from your life. While our posture towards sexual temptation should be one of flight the moment we find such a temptation dangling in front of us like a carrot before a horse, there is also a sense where we need to be fighting against it as well. The old word used to describe this is “mortify” which has a forceful feel to it of really wiping it out to be done with. I like what Derek W. H. Thomas said about this practice of mortifying or putting our sin to death. He wrote, “There is to be no ‘peace’ with sin. We dare not baptize our sins with benedictions. It is imperative that sin be destroyed. It’s life is not to be spared. There must be a radical destruction of sin. Kill it; strangle it; starve it of oxygen until it cannot breathe again. There is no other way.” Imagine lustful desire to be like a dragon. If you continue to feed it, it will get hungrier and hungrier, seeking to devour you while wanting to indulge in its passion all the more. You need to starve it to put a halt to its craving and be careful not to feed it even a crumb or small morsel so as not to whetten its appetite. And you will find when you keep your eyes and thoughts away from things that your desire for them are not as strong. But the moment you give in just a little bit, the harder it is to say “no” the next time the temptation presents itself.

And since we will never fully be rid of these sinful desires within us until we receive our new resurrected bodies, this work of mortification or putting sin to death will not be finished until we reach glory. This means that we can never stop, give up, or let up working to slay the sinfulness within us but must keep at it knowing that our ultimate victory is inevitably certain in the future because of Christ and His wonderful work for us and His Spirit’s continual work in us. Octavious Winslow helpfully reminds us, “Death by the cross is certain, yet lingering. Our blessed Lord was suspended upon the tree from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon. It was a slow, lingering torture, yet terminating in his giving up the ghost. Similar to this is the death of sin in the believer. It is progressive and protracted, yet certain in the issue. Nail after nail must pierce our corruptions, until the entire body of sin, each member thus transfixed, is crucified and slain.”

The seriousness of this matter is conveyed so powerfully by the Puritan John Owen with his words, “be killing sin or it will be killing you.” View sexual sin like a fire. You play around with it, you are sure to get burnt. If it is not put out, it will burn down your marriage, your family, and a man’s ministry, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. You may think or try to convince yourself that what you are looking at, fantasizing about, or acting on only affects you but that is never the case. We are too interconnected with others for it to be so. A fire that is not put out will grow and spread. Take notice that it is often only a small spark that winds up starting a wild fire. And, if left burning, how much of an area gets affected by it. So serious is this ridding ourselves of sexual sin through putting it to death in our lives that Jesus tells us we need to take radical measures to cut off from our lives anything which would cause us to give in to such sin. He compares this to plucking out our eye or chopping off a hand (Matthew 5:29-30). It would certainly be hard to part with our physical eye or a hand. However, purity before the Lord in regard to our marriages is worth more. And it would be better for us to go without something we deem to be so essential for us than to give into sexual temptation and reap the damning consequences of it if it would lead us down that road.

A sixth way for us to avoid sexual sin according to God’s Word is to REMEMBER. To remember in particular something about our sin and something about our Savior. In his recounting of the faith of Moses, the author of Hebrews says, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (11:24-26). One thing that sticks out to me from this passage is him speaking of the “passing pleasures of sin.” Whenever we are tempted sexually, we need to remember that while that sin certainly promises pleasure, there would be no enticement for us to do it otherwise, it is only a temporary pleasure. It will not last but is only short-lived. That is the thing to remind ourselves about the sin itself. In contrast, there is far greater and more lasting pleasure to be found in Christ instead. Every time we sin, we are choosing the much lesser and temporal pleasure of sin over the far greater and never-ending pleasure that is ours in Christ. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that she would continue to be thirsting as long as she kept drinking of that water. But the one who drinks the water He offers will never thirst again. They will be eternally fully and finally satisfied. He is speaking of a complete and lasting quenching of one’s spiritual thirst of course. Something the woman beforehand clearly did not know as evidenced by her sinful relationships with men. Perhaps reminding ourselves of this truth of real lasting pleasure being found in our Savior and not in the sin we are being tempted to give way to can help us choose Christ over the sin with its pleasure which does not last. This is true not just of sexual temptation but really any temptation we may be faced with.

Yet another way for us to avoid falling into sexual sin is to RETREAT to the Exit. We are promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Now, this is not saying that God will not give us more than we can handle as is commonly interpreted from this verse. That’s certainly not the case as I am convinced that pretty much everything we have been given is too much for us to handle on our own in our own power and strength but is never too much for God to handle. And the purpose for that is to continually direct and drive us back to One who can handle it and give us the strength to as well. Here, the idea is that God will make sure that we never have a moment where we are so overwhelmed by the temptations before us that it is impossible for us to resist and say “no” to them. He will always ensure that there is some kind of way out of it. An escape from it. You may have had those moments like I have where you are on a long trip driving down the interstate and find yourself needing to get off to go get gas, take a bathroom break, get something to eat, or do all three (if you are like me and try to save time by making it all one stop when possible). But try as you may, mile after mile with less and less gas in the tank and a fuller bladder, you just can’t seem to find any exit in sight where you can stop. This verse reminds us that such will never happen to us on our spiritual journey whenever we come to some temptation. We will not find ourselves without an exit out of it. This means that what we need to do in the midst of such is to look for that exit and be sure to take it! Not to stay on the road but quickly get off it.

The final way I can think of that Scripture gives us for avoiding giving into sexual temptation is the most important of them all. In fact, we are not able to follow any of the others without it. And that is to RELY on the Lord. We will fail miserably at being victorious over sexual sin in our lives if we are seeking to fight against it in our strength and power. Because, frankly, we cannot do it on our own. It’s just not possible. You will notice in Romans 8:13 we looked at earlier speaking of us seeking to put to death the sinfulness within us that beforehand Paul states, “BY THE SPIRIT you are putting to death the practices of the body.” We are not doing this by the flesh or by our might. Only by the power of His Spirit which God has graciously given us to dwell inside us. The good news is that God’s grace is sufficient for defeating all the sinful lusts and practices in our lives. As Jesus reminded Paul with his dealing of that painful thorn in the flesh, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). There is hope for all of us to overcome such temptation in Christ alone. We ultimately just keep needing to turn to Him and throw ourselves upon Him pleading with Him for His mercy in taking care of the matter. Then, and only then, can we BE READY, RUN, REMAIN, RESOLVE, GET RID OF, REMEMBER, and RETREAT.

Evidence of Saving Faith

2024-11-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

How do you know that you are saved? That you are truly trusting in Jesus? Do you have doubts about your salvation for a variety of reasons? Not fully sure whether you are saved or not? One thing that can help us evaluate if we have been graciously given saving faith from God to believe in Christ is to understand what saving faith actually is. My goal in this month’s article is look at that with you.

First, we could say that SAVING FAITH IS A TRUSTING FAITH. It is a trusting in Christ alone for your salvation and that He has done everything necessary for it. That nothing else needs to be done or could be done to put you in a right relationship with God in spite of your many sins. Jesus truly has paid it all. This faith is more than an intellectual acknowledgement of the facts of who Jesus is and what He has done. It is more than just believing that He actually lived and died for sins. Remember James tells us that the demons believe and even shudder over what they know to be true about God (James 2:19). They know the reality of it but clearly aren’t saved. Saving faith is a resting in those facts and what they mean. It’s a reliance on Jesus to have taken care of everything for you to be saved, forgiven, and accepted by God into His family. A man by the name of Charles Blondin became famous back in 1859 for walking across a tightrope 160 feet above Niagara Falls several times between Canada and the United States. He did this once on stilts, another time on a bicycle, once in a sack, and one time he even carried a stove across and cooked an omelet. Crowds gathered to watch him “ooohing” and “aaaahing” when one day he came across on the tightrope pushing a wheelbarrow blindfolded. He asked the crowd if they believed that he could carry a person across in that wheelbarrow. After all that they had watched him do, the crowd shouted “yes!” He then posed the question, “Who here volunteers to get in this wheelbarrow?” And of course, no one did. Just knowing that someone can do something is not the same as trusting and relying on them to do it. Saving faith in Jesus is trusting and relying on Him so much to save you that you “get in to the wheelbarrow” so to speak confident He alone can push you across the chasm which separates you from God.

All of us more likely can relate to the man who responded to Jesus with “I do believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24). We can confess that we believe but at the same time recognize that we don’t believe as we ought to. The good news for us is that it is not the power or size of your faith that matters but the presence of it. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to increase their faith, He told them that if they had faith just the size of a mustard seed, the smallest of the seeds, then they could move a mulberry tree (Luke 17:5-6). As the Puritan Thomas Watson put it, “A weak faith can laid hold of a strong Christ.” It’s not our faith itself that makes the difference as much as it is the object of our faith. Keep in mind that it is not faith itself that saves us but faith in Christ. Jesus is the One who saves us through His perfect sinless obedient life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection in our place. Faith is just our latching on to Him, fully assured that He has done all that is necessary for us to be saved and to become a part of His family. Think of Jesus as being like a life raft thrown out to you while drowning. You believe it will save you. But you must reach out to grab a hold of it for it to do so. Faith is simply our grabbing a hold of Jesus to be our life raft and our holding on to Him as the only One who can save us from drowning in our sin and God’s wrath. Are you holding on to Him for dear eternal life, forgiveness, and to be seen as righteous in God’s sight?

Saving faith is also AN OBEDIENT WORKING FAITH. Not that our faith consists of obedience or that obedience and works contribute to our salvation in any way. Just that true saving faith always inevitably leads to obedience or produces obedience in the life of the one who possesses it. It will ultimately result in works. We could say that obedience is not the root of salvation but its fruit. Or, to put it another way, obedience is not the cause of our salvation but the consequence of it. The Reformers would say, “We are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone.” John tells us that a clear sign that we truly know God through faith in Jesus is that we obey or keep His commandments (1 John 2:3). In fact, he even goes so far as to say that the one who claims to know Him but does not keep His commandments “is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected” (vv. 4-5).

This is what James means when he says that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-17). It is only a living faith that produces works of obedience. If someone claims that they have faith but there is nothing in their life to show it, James says that such is a dead false faith that cannot save (v. 14). There is nothing to it. One of the examples he gives in that passage proves this. He points to Abraham’s obedience to do the unthinkable and kill his son, Isaac, for a sacrifice (vv. 21-23). Exactly what God had told him to do. That is recorded for us in Genesis 22. It is important to realize that Abraham’s faith preceded this act of obedience as earlier in Genesis 15:6 we read, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” His righteous standing before God resulted from his faith and not his obedience to God’s commands. It was his obedience which revealed the reality of his faith. It showed that he didn’t have a spurious or false faith in God’s promise to provide for him descendants and, ultimately, the One who in whom “all the families of the earth would be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). His faith that God would do as He said could easily have been all talk with no substance to it whatsoever. However, this willingness to sacrifice Isaac which would have put the promise he believed God for in jeopardy, showed that not to be the case. In fact, what we see is that he trusted God so much to keep His promise that if He would have him to sacrifice the child through which the promise was to be given, it must mean that God intended to bring Isaac back from the dead afterwards somehow (Hebrews 11:19). It wasn’t just wishful thinking when he told the young men who had accompanied them that he and his son would go on from there and that “we will worship, and WE will return to you” (Genesis 22:5). He was fully convinced he would not be coming back alone after the sacrifice. God somehow was going to bring Isaac back, even from the dead if necessary, in order for Him to keep His promise.

It is important to point out that we are not talking about the perfection of obedience here but the direction of obedience. This does not mean that a true Christian will never sin. Far from it! But the believer will be striving, with the help the Holy Spirit inside him or her gives them, to walk in obedience to the Lord’s law, repenting all the many times we fall short of it and then seeking to get back on the horse yet again we could say to labor to be obedient again. However, the longer one walks in unrepentant disobedience, the greater cause of concern he or she should have when it comes to the reality of their faith. As Joel Beeke points out, “One cannot enjoy high levels of assurance [of their faith and salvation] while he persists in disobedience.” And the remedy to that is repentance. Another way true faith is shown.

Finally, saving faith is A PERSEVERING FAITH. A faith which remains to the end without ever fully and finally falling away. Scripture is clear that a true sign of real genuine saving faith is that it continues and lasts. Jesus told a group of Jews who had believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples” (John 8:31). In the parable of the soils, it is the seed which lands in the good soil, with deep roots which grows up and bears much fruit that represents the true Christian with real faith. The other three were characterized by either never starting to grow as in the case of the seed which fell along the side of the road and was snatched up by the birds or devil or grew but did not continue such with the seed in the rocky and weedy soils. Both of them picture the one who appears to believe at first but over time falls away due to troubles, persecution, the worries of this world, desire for riches, and other things so that they do not bear any fruit (Mark 4:1-20). The reason for their failure to continue and produce was due to them having no root in themselves. No true saving faith. We are assured to belong to Jesus’ household and to have become a partaker of Him “if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope” (Hebrews 3:6) and “if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end (Hebrews 3:14). We have been reconciled to God on account of Christ and can be sure that we will one day be presented before God holy, blameless, and beyond reproach “if indeed you continue in the faith firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:22-23). On the other hand, we are told about the group of false teachers in the church which John wrote to that “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for it they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). Their very leaving proved that they never belonged to the church because their faith did not remain. And “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).

The question should not be whether you have trusted in Christ sometime in the past but whether you are trusting in Him now. Past faith is never the best barometer for one’s relationship with the Lord. Present faith is because it means you are still believing and trusting in Jesus. You are continuing in that faith. While a true believer with genuine faith will falter and fail at times, he or she will not ultimately and finally fall away from the faith. And this is not because of their strength and power but God’s. When Paul calls the Philippians to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”, he is quick to next point out, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). The only way any believer with true faith can persevere in that faith and make it to the end still believing is because of God working in them in His Holy Spirit to ensure and enable them to.

If you are concerned that you do not have this trusting obedient working persevering faith, the solution is not to try to drum up some faith from within yourself but to focus more on the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done for believers, praying that as you think more deeply on Who He is and His work that the Spirit would bring you to put your full trust and faith in Him as your only Savior and enable you to continue on in that faith no matter what may happen in your life or comes your way. Look to Christ as your only hope of salvation today and keep looking to Him.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

The Two Most Important Words in the Bible

2024-10-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

They are arguably the two most important words in all the Bible. The sweetest words to the Christian’s ears. Two words we could never read enough or be reminded of too much. The famed preacher, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, once said, “These two words, in and of themselves, in a sense contain the whole of the gospel.” James Montgomery Boice claimed that “if you understand those two words . . . they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely.” What are these two most important words? They are the words, But God . . .”

The word, “but,” often means a turnaround or contrast to something else that has recently been stated. Sometimes that may not be a good thing. When you are told that someone would love to come to your party or get together to be disappointed to hear that BUT they cannot because of this, that, or the other. Or the doctor says that your health is looking pretty good BUT there is one major concern that he or she has about it. Kind of like when Jesus in the book of Revelation has John write to those seven churches commending them on several things that are going well with the congregation only to follow that with the statement, “BUT I have this against you” (2:4, 20) or “BUT I have a few things against you” (v. 14). However, often when the word “but” is coupled with God and something He has or will do, it signifies a much needed divine intervention in the midst of our perilous plight and desperate situation or circumstance.

We are told that after God had destroyed every living thing on the earth in the flood and Noah with his family were stuck on the ark as the flood waters remained for 150 days, “BUT GOD remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided” (Genesis 8:1). When things looked pretty grim for Joseph as he had been sold to a man named Potiphar to serve as his slave, we have “BUT YAHWEH [or the LORD] was with Joseph, so he became a successful man” (39:2). Likewise, later when the young man finds himself in prison falsely accused of wrongdoing, “BUT YAHWEH [or the LORD] was with Joseph and extended lovingkindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer” (v. 21). And then looking back at the end of his life, he is able to say to his brothers, “as for you, you meant evil against me, BUT GOD meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive” (50:20). We read of David, “And Saul sought him every day, BUT GOD did not give him into his hand” (1 Samuel 23:14). And regarding ourselves and our salvation, “For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. BUT GOD demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). “For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. BUT GOD has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). “No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man, BUT GOD is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). After pointing out to the saints in Ephesus that “you were dead in your trespasses and sins, Paul shares the wonderful good news, “BUT GOD, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6).

Oh, what hope these two words bring us! That God will not forget us Noahs who have been saved by His grace and preserved from His wrath. When we find ourselves in less than ideal circumstances such as Joseph in slavery to Potiphar and in prison for a crime he never committed to know that in the middle of all that God is with us working out His greater good purpose. That God will not give us into the hand of our enemy, the devil. Or in the moment of temptation when the pull to sin seems so strong to be reminded that God is faithful in not allowing it to get to the point of overwhelming us where we cannot fight against it and even providing the way out so we don’t need to give into it. The times where we may think that God would not want us or desire to use us since there is nothing special about us according to the world’s standards we can be assured that we are exactly the kind of person He chooses. That when no else would even consider to die for us not being a good person or a righteous one, God sent forth His Son to. And that we are not left in the deadness of our sins receiving what we deserve for them. All because of these “BUT GOD’S” in the Bible.

Think about the difference these “BUT GOD’S” make. Without the truth of these words, Noah never would have been able to get off of the ark. Joseph could never have went from Potiphar to prison to Pharaoh to the palace where he and his family, God’s people from whom the promised Seed would come, would be saved. David would have been killed by Saul. None of us would ever have been chosen to be a part of God’s family. We each would still be dead in our sins with no one willing to die to remove those sins and pay the penalty they entailed. No spiritual life being given to us. Temptation would always get the upper hand without any way for us ever to escape it.

None of these things of the “BUT GOD’S” are things we can do ourselves. Noah didn’t have the power and strength to blow the waters of the flood to cause them to subside in the least little bit. It is unimaginable that a Hebrew like Joseph could curry such favor with Egyptians in such a short time left on his own. Young David, as fit and strong as he was, may not have stood a chance against the older King Saul and his forces. We do not have the power to overcome temptation on our own. In fact, we fail at such every time we try. In and of ourselves, we can no more breathe spiritual life into our deadness than a corpse can breathe life back into itself. Than Lazarus or the old dry bones in the valley of Ezekiel’s day could without the Spirit’s working through God’s Word in each of those cases. We cannot save ourselves or earn our salvation in any way. We are not able to go even a day with keeping the Ten Commandments God has given which reveal His righteous standard.

These two words remind us of God’s grace. God would have been fully just to leave Noah on the ark among the flood waters or even to have him perish with the rest of wicked humanity in the flood. After all, we should not forget that Noah and his family were just as much sinners as the rest were. Keep in mind that the statement of Genesis 6:5 is universal without any exceptions given. The evil of man in general was great on the earth and that EVERY intent of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY or ALL HIS DAYS. Noah would have been included in that statement being a part of sinful humanity and a descendant of Adam sharing his guilt and sinful nature. And we read about his sinful drunken nakedness after the ark as well (9:20-21). The only reason Noah and his family were spared the flood of God’s wrath was the same reason any of us are spared such; God’s grace. Remember that we are told that “Noah found favor [literally “grace”] in the eyes of Yahweh” (6:8). Not merit on account of his own righteousness. The mention of his rightoeousnness and blamelessness FOLLOWED him finding that favor or grace in God’s eyes (v. 9). As is always the case, it is the result of such and not the cause of it. On account of our sins and unrighteousness, we certainly don’t deserve God to intervene in sending His Son to die in our place and to make us alive in Christ. In fact, we give Him every reason not to. Whenever we read these two words in Scripture, we should remember God’s great grace in our lives and be amazed by it.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones also said in a sermon one time, “Thank God for the ‘buts’ of the Bible.” Certainly, we should especially thank God for the “But God’s” of the Bible and the difference they make in our lives and praise Him for each of them. Be sure to pay attention to them the next time you come across one in your Bible reading and give thanks.

Celebrating the glorious truths of the “but God’s” with you,

Pastor Lee

A Proper Perspective During Election Season

2024-09-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

We find ourselves now in yet another very contentious presidential election season. You can’t turn the TV on, listen to the radio, or even watch a YouTube video without some sort of political ad popping up. The billboards and yard signs supporting one of the two candidates are inescapable as we drive around. (Of course, it doesn’t help that we live in one of the biggest swing states they are saying may just decide the election.) We keep hearing how if the other candidate would get elected, it very well could be the end of our nation as we know it and only the one is able to save our nation and ensure it has a future. How many times do we keep being told that this is “the most consequential election in our nation’s history”? (Never mind the fact that they say this every four years.) It is so easy to get sucked into it all and allow ourselves to get so worked up and worried about what might happen if the wrong person would get elected and the damage that would cause. However, as Christians, we have no reason to be such. I think that when we become overly concerned about this election, it is because we have forgotten about a number of truths. My goal in this article for the month is to help us keep our head in all the waters of the election fervor. And I aim to do that by reminding us of those very truths.

First, we must not forget that God is sovereign over all things, including who serves as president. Ephesians 1:11 states that He “works all things according to the counsel of His will”. Who winds up occupying the Oval Office as a result of the election would be certainly be counted as part of that “all things” Paul mentions. Jesus tells us that not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from the Father (Matthew 10:29). What is true of each small sparrow must also be true of every great king or leader. Daniel acknowledged in his prayer that God “removes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2:21). King Nebuchadnezzar was brought to realize “That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes and sets it up over the lowliest of men” (Daniel 4:17). And Paul makes clear in Romans 13:1 that “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God.” There is no way around the fact that God always has the final say so in whatever takes place down here.

God even can and does work through the election process to appoint the individual He sees fit for the office for such a time as this. He will use the citizens’ votes to accomplish it. And sometimes we need to recognize that the sovereign appointment of certain rulers very well may be for the purpose of judgment of a nation as well. John Calvin put it this way, “When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” We have seen cases of this throughout biblical history. Just read through the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles as well as the prophets. And if it is a good leader or the better leader of the two choices we are faced with, then we have to realize that to be God’s mercy towards us as a nation as we certainly don’t deserve such in light of our many sins and wickedness.

And regardless of what happens with this election, it will not hinder God’s work to grow and complete His kingdom as He has promised. His kingdom will come and replace all the kingdoms of man on this earth. The dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar indicated such with the rock representing the Messiah’s kingdom striking the statue symbolizing a number of the major earthly kingdoms in the near future of Daniel’s day and bringing them all crashing to the ground (Daniel 2). His kingdom “will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever” (v. 44). Revelation 11:15 pictures the result of the victory of Christ’s kingdom over all others when the angels will declare, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” While the outcome of the election very well may have a major impact on the future of our nation, it won’t for the future of God’s kingdom. And we can be sure that whichever candidate does win, he or she will not be able to stop Jesus from continuing to build His church which is the visible manifestation of His kingdom now on this earth. Not even the gates of hell itself will prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

Second, we must not forget that no politician can ever save us or the country. Oh, sure, they may speak like they can but we should know that’s not the case. They’re not Jesus. In fact, they are far from Him. Scripture warns us not to trust in princes but to trust in the Lord our God. Psalm 146:3-5 could not make this any plainer. “Do not trust in nobles, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his plans perish. How blessed if he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in Yahweh his God.” Know that your preferred candidate is going to let you down. It’s inevitable because he or she is a sinful human who is bound to make their share of mistakes and not always do the right thing. If you wind up placing your hope in him or her, you will get disappointed. However, if your trust is in the Lord, you will not be disappointed no matter who winds up being in the White House come the end of January. You can be assured He won’t fail you and He alone has the ability to save the individuals in this nation which will in turn have a transforming effect on society.

Third, don’t forget that in light of eternity, every election here, no matter how significant it might seem at the moment, will only be a small tiny blip in history. When we get to heaven, we will look back and wonder why we got so worked up over someone who was placed in charge of our country for a maximum of eight years only to be replaced by someone else who in turn will be replaced by someone else only eventually to be read about one day in a history book.

Fourth, don’t forget your real citizenship. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). Our true home is not here. Like the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, before us, we should confess ourselves to be “strangers and exiles on the earth” “looking for a city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God”, aspiring to a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:10, 13, 16). As the old hymn puts it, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through.” Don’t allow yourself to get so caught up with the things going on down here that you lose sight of the “better home awaiting” yet to come for you. Yes, it matters who is in charge of this nation and there could be long-lasting consequences with it. But you are not going to be here forever and ever without an amen. Eventually, you are going to go to your true home to be with Jesus. Also, eventually, this world as we know it will be destroyed by fire to make way for the new heavens and new earth Jesus will create upon His return (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 21:1). We need to make sure that our greater concern is found in preparing ourselves and others for that kingdom instead of this kingdom which WILL sink by the time that the better kingdom sails in. And, who knows, depending on how the election may go, God may intend to create in us an even greater longing for our true heavenly home and keep us from becoming too comfortable here where we won’t want to leave.

And so you don’t think that I am implying with all this that we should just forgo voting and have nothing to do with the political process at all, my last reminder to us is not to forget to seek to promote the welfare of the city we reside in while here on this earth in our voting. In his letter to the exiles just before they were taken to Babylon, Jeremiah wrote that they were to “seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Yahweh on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7). When Dwight L. Moody was asked why he was taking a strong stand on a specific political issue of his day since he was a citizen of heaven, he answered, “Indeed, I am a citizen of heaven; but right now I am voting in Cook County, Illinois.” That voting was significant since it was a way he could seek to benefit the city in which he lived and love his neighbors by supporting policies which would be for their good and not their detriment. Voting is significant for us for the same reason. We want to love our neighbor and benefit the place where we temporarily reside as we work to keep our focus on our heavenly home yet to come. Praise God that in His good and all-wise providence we live in a country where we do have a say-so in its laws and policies through the democratic process the founder of the nation designed for us under God! Let’s make sure that we take advantage of that whenever we are able to promote the peace or welfare of the city in which we live.

And when you’re in Babylon, you are going to have to vote for the least problematic of the two Babylonians. We’re not going to have an ideal candidate to choose from. That would be Jesus and He is not on the ballot. (Yes, I have seen the bumper stickers and yard signs that read “Jesus 2024. Save America.” Thankfully, He doesn’t have to run for office because He reigns over every individual to ever serve in that office. And, technically, He is not the One needed to be elected. We are but that discussion is for another time.) And, let’s be honest, there are problems with both candidates from both parties. We must vote for the one who promotes policies more in line with God’s Word and who would be better for our country, our children, our neighbors, and their future.

So, be sure to go vote for such a candidate in November, entrusting the results of the voting to God in His sovereignty and keeping in mind that neither candidate will be able to save us, in light of eternity this is nowhere near as consequential as it is made out to be, and we vote as citizens of heaven looking forward to the day of our Lord’s return when all this will be a distant memory and we will be enjoying our close intimate fellowship with Him. This is the only way we will retain our sanity this election season and honor God in our civil duty of voting.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Concerning Cremation

2024-08-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

One of the questions I get asked often is whether or not it is a sin to be cremated. Usually, this is in response to a family member who has just passed that decided to be cremated or someone contemplating their own plans for burial. Certainly, cremations are becoming more popular now with the rising cost of a traditional burial. One of the local funeral directors just confirmed that for me in a recent discussion with him last week. Should a Christian make arrangements for being cremated after their death? Is that even a biblical option? Does it really matter?

The first thing I do when I get such questions is to reassure the person asking that what happens to their loved ones body or what will happen to their own body has no bearing whatsoever on where the person’s soul will spend eternity. What one does with Jesus by God’s grace determines that. Not what takes place to their body in life or in death. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Not by preserving or destroying our body. And having one’s body scattered into ashes will have no effect on the new resurrected body he or she will receive at the return of the Lord because God can easily bring all of those ashes back together again, regardless of where they may be at that moment. I like how Richard Phillips put it when he wrote, "We may trust God, who made everything out of nothing, to sort out the molecules when it comes to the coming resurrection of our bodies." And God will need to do so anyway for someone whose body may have been destroyed in a fire or blown up in an explosion as well as for believers who were burned at the stake for their faith many years ago. Depending on how long it is until the Lord’s return, most believers’ body will have be transformed from decay and decomposition, even with all the embalming that has been done and the preservation in a nice casket. Part of the curse is that as man was created from dust and dirt, to dust and dirt we will return in death (Genesis 3:19). The issue is over whether we should speed up that process with the burning of our bodies or allow God to naturally have it take place. So, don’t worry or stress out over the condition of your loved one who may have been cremated. If they knew the Lord through faith in Him, they are fine now and will be just as fine when it comes to the resurrection of their body on the day of Christ’s return. The cremation itself makes no difference as to that.

With all this said, I do think that a proper burial best fits the practice, pattern, and picture we are given in Scripture regarding death and the future hope of our resurrection in Christ. Much better than is communicated with cremation. My goal here is not to make anyone feel bad or guilty due to decisions that have already been made for those in their families but to help us think through and consider how Scripture may direct us in this matter. Perhaps to help some of you who may be considering cremation or wondering if you should. Or to equip you in answering this question about cremation whenever you may get asked it. If nothing else, you will understand why it is I typically counsel and encourage burial over cremation, even if you wind up disagreeing with me about it.

When it comes to what was done to one’s body after death in the Bible, we see early on Abraham purchasing a plot of land to bury the body of his beloved Sarah after she had died (Genesis 23:3-20). Later, Abraham himself is buried there by two of his sons, Isaac and Ishmael (25:8-10). Jacob buries Rachel following her death and puts a pillar over her tomb; an early gravestone (35:19-20). Esau and Jacob bury their father, Isaac, in the family grave site which Abraham had bought, where Jacob also requests to be buried at as well (v. 29; 50:29-32). Then, we have Joseph who makes his people pledge to take his bones with them to the land of Canaan when God would fulfill His word to bring them back to the land He has promised to give them. He has himself embalmed and place in a coffin there in Egypt until that time (50:24-26). Such showed his faith in God to keep this promise (Hebrews 11:22). Sure enough, Moses takes Joseph’s bones with him in the exodus (Exodus 13:19) and they are buried in Shechem once the people had been brought back to the promised land of Canaan (Joshua 24:32). God Himself even buries Moses’ body instead of consuming it with fire (Deuteronomy 34:5-6). And we can’t neglect the care and burial of our Lord’s body after His death. Rather than having His body cast aside in the burning heap as was common at that time, Joseph of Arimathea offers up his own tomb for it to be laid in, wrapping it in a clean linen shroud (Matthew 27:57-60). With such care and concern being shown to Jesus’ body after His death, what does that indicate about our own?

On the other side of things, we notice that the denial of a proper burial of the body and a burning of it was many times a sign of God’s judgment. The prophet Jeremiah speaks of “those pierced by the LORD on that day” who “shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground” (Jeremiah 25:33). The Moabites are even punished by fire for their burning of the bones of the king of Edom (Amos 2:1-3). Others were burned up or consumed by the fire of God’s wrath (Numbers 11:1-3; 16:35) or commanded to be burned as a consequence for certain sins under the old covenant (Leviticus 20:14; 21:19). We’ve seen this recently in our study of Leviticus with Nadab and Abihu when they offered up “strange fire” to the Lord in their worship (10:1-3). Clearly, the practice and pattern of Scripture was a proper burial for one’s body. The burning of it not seen to be or treated as a positive thing. While there is not an explicit command for us not to burn our bodies in cremation or that we must properly bury them, I think the consistent practice and pattern we find throughout Scripture should factor into our own consideration of this. Furthermore, do we really want to subject a believer’s body to what has become a symbol of God’s wrath and anger, knowing that they have been graciously spared from such for eternity through their faith in Christ?

There is a respect and dignity shown in burying a person’s body rather than burning it as well. Just as you wouldn’t dream of intentionally mauling or harming a loved one’s body while they are alive, why would we want to do that to them once they are dead? It’s still very much their body. They are just temporarily separated from it. As I remind people during the committal part of a funeral service at the gravesite, this body is the one we got to know our deceased loved one through. The body we shared with, embraced, and kissed. The body of one we spent so much wonderful time with. Isn’t caring for that body and laying it to rest a way we can continue to express our love and respect for the person even after their death? And there is something about taking care and honoring the body God has given you even in your own death. Many of us for that matter could do better at doing such now in life with proper exercise, better eating habits, and avoiding those things which we know will do harm to our bodies. Don’t worry. I’m also talking to myself here! Ouch!

The burial of the body also communicates our faith and hope in the future resurrection of the body. The traditional words for the committal service from the Book of Common Prayer states, “Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother/sister here departed, we therefore commit his/her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.” The picture is that the body is being laid to rest until the day of it being physically awakened in resurrection at our Lord’s return. Both Jesus and Paul speak of the body being like a grain of seed planted in the ground to rise again to the same likeness with the flower that results from it (John 12:24; 1 Corinthians 15:37). Such a seed is buried, not burned. The metaphor the Bible often uses for the death of a believer is that of being asleep (Matthew 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). The body appears to be sleeping as it is buried in the ground lifeless with the hope that it will wake up in life with resurrection. Those pictures are lost with cremation and the destroying of the body into ashes. I mentioned Joseph earlier desiring to preserve his body in light of the coming fulfillment of God’s word to bring the people back to the promised land of Canaan. Likewise, there is a sense where we want to preserve our bodies in light of the coming fulfillment of God's promise of a future resurrection of the body. Just as that served as a demonstration of Joseph’s faith in God’s Word, a proper burial does for us as well.

I remember as a young 20 year old serving as an intern at a church for a summer while in college sitting with some ladies who were discussing their funeral plans. They each spoke of what kind of burial they wanted or if they desired to be cremated and what would happen to their ashes. When they came around to ask me my thoughts, I naively said, “I don’t care what is done with my body. I will be with Jesus. They could throw it over a bridge for what it mattered!” I now realize that it certainly does matter what happens to my body after my soul or spirit departs to be with Jesus awaiting its reunion with my renewed and transformed body on resurrection day. It matters to others who love and respect me both body and soul. It matters how I view and treat the body God has wisely designed for me and given me. And it matters as a witness to my faith in the future resurrection of my body promised by Jesus. It of course doesn’t matter as to where I will spend eternity or ultimately in that sense. We must always keep that in mind. However, I think these other matters should be considered and weighed when making such a decision as we seek to honor and respect the bodies the Lord has given us in both life and death.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Being Thankful for the Active Obedience of Christ

2024-07-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Shortly before he died, seminary professor J. Gresham Machen sent a telegram to his good friend and fellow seminary professor John Murray. The message said, "I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it." Now, this statement may seem strange to you. You might expect him to be thankful more specifically for Christ's death on the cross for our sin, especially as he was nearing the end of his life. Or, even wonder just what he means by the active obedience of Christ anyway. We usually don't speak of Christ's obedience like that. My goal here is to unpack for you what the good theology professor was getting out with this statement and why it is something we also ought to be very thankful for.

Machen realized that underlying all that Jesus did during His time on earth was obedience to the Father's will. You can summarize His entire work with this one word of obedience. In fact, Jesus Himself even claims such. He says, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). He was careful to speak only what the Father had commanded Him to. "For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment-what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me" (John 12:48-49). It was this obedience which led Him to go the cross. Remember the struggle He had on the night He was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane? How He prayed to ask that if it would be possible for the Father to remove the cup of His wrath He was to drink? But ultimately, He resolved Himself to God's will with His powerful words, "yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39), "Your will be done" (v. 42). Paul explains that Jesus "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8). He was the perfect obedient servant and son to the Father in everything He did.

It's common to speak of two aspects of this obedience of our Lord; His passive obedience and active obedience. Jesus' passive obedience refers to His willingness to lay down His life by allowing Himself to be handed over to the chief priests and authorities to be crucified. His obedience to the Father required Him to be passive to all that was happening to Him in order to receive the penalty and punishment due to us on account of our sins. Jesus could have easily stopped all of the horrible things done to Him by the Roman soldiers at any moment. He told Peter after the disciple had taken out his sword and sliced off one of the soldier's ear who had come to arrest our Savior that "do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? Therefore, how will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?" (Matthew 26:53-54). The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus being like a sheep being led out to slaughter never once biting or fighting the one taking it to meet its end (53:7). Jesus just let everything take place to Him as the Father had planned and commanded.

Jesus' active obedience is His living out perfectly the commands of the law. Doing everything God had said we must do in His Old Testament law. Jesus was clear that He did not come to abolish or do away with the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18). He came to be obedient to its commands as required. The reason He gave for His baptism was "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). To do all that was necessary to live the righteous life we continually fail to live. When it comes to our salvation, we typically focus on Jesus' passive obedience of His dying on the cross for our sins. But we need to be careful not to forget about His active obedience. About His living to earn a perfect righteous record. You see, Jesus dying on the cross to cover and wipe away our sins would not be enough. We need a perfect righteousness to enter into His kingdom. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). The scribes and the Pharisees in that day were known to be the most holy and righteous with their over scrupulous concern in keeping every jot and tittle of the law. Of course, the problem was that while they kept the outward letter of the law, they broke it with the desires and attitudes of their hearts, making themselves out to be hypocrites when they presented themselves to be so righteous when really they were not. Jesus actually spends the rest of that chapter in Matthew revealing that to be the case. They could claim not to have physically slept with another man's wife but they failed to realize that they were just as guilty of breaking the commandment forbidding adultery in their heart every time they lusted after someone else's wife (v. 27). The same was true in regards to murder. They may say that they have never taken another man's life physically but would not be able to say that with how they feel towards others and the names they had called them in their anger (vv. 21-22). He ends that chapter with the bar being as high as it could possibly be. "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (v. 48). In order to be accepted by God and be able to stand in His holy presence, we not only need our sins to be forgiven and taken away but also to be righteous. To be holy as God is holy. Something that we continue to fail to be every single day. Since that is the case, the hope of any of us being perfectly holy and righteous cannot be found in ourselves at all. Without this active obedience of Christ where He was perfectly holy and righteous through being obedient to the Father's commands, we would have no hope whatsoever to enter God's kingdom.

If it helps, we can use a bank analogy. Say that you are in so much debt you could never pay it off. It would be impossible to ever earn enough money to even bring the debt down. In fact, all you keep doing is add more and more debt to it to bring yourself even further in debt. However, if someone graciously paid off all that you owed in full, you still wouldn't be where you needed. Sure, they got you out of the hole but you are still left without any money. The bank account is now zero and there is nothing you can do with zero dollars. But if someone not only paid for your all your debt but also filled your bank account full, you then will have all that you need. Jesus does more than just clear our sinful record by His death. He replaces it with His sinless spotless one He earned in His perfect righteous living. He not just took care of the debt of our sin in taking the punishment for it but filled up our account with His righteousness which we lack so now we have what is needed to be in His kingdom as an adopted son or daughter of the King, being viewed as completely holy and righteous as Jesus is. As if we had lived His holy sinless life which we of course didn’t. As Paul put it in Romans 5:19, "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were appointed sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be appointed righteous." We can be appointed and seen as righteous through the active obedience of Jesus in living out without fail God's commands.

If only Jesus' death was needed to save us, then He could have come down and entered humanity as a full grown man and went straight to the cross, rather than arriving as a tiny baby and going through all the processes of physical growth and life which we go through. But He had to be more than just a sacrifice for sin. He had to earn the righteousness we need to stand before God and be in His holy presence. And through our faith in Him, we can have that record applied to our account so that we always can stand as righteous and holy in God's holy presence without ever being cast aside by Him or punished for our sins.

Machen understood that he had no hope to stand before God and be in His holy presence without this righteousness Jesus achieved for us. And that is why he was so thankful for it. Aren't you thankful for Christ's active obedience as well? We truly would have no hope of salvation without it. Be sure to take some time to reflect on such today and thank God for it.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee