JESUS' WAY OR THE HIGHWAY

can i just say, in a truly un-intellectual fashion, that i have heard too many ppl talk about compromise.
about middle ground, about cop out, about synthesis, about agreeing to disagree, about making room for others, about intellectual politeness, argumentative courtesy.

and frankly, i've had enough.

there are NO compromises in jesus.

men of God, stand up! stand up! make your stand for Jesus!

what does jesus say about men who are ashamed of Him?

think of Peter, denying Christ 3 times out in the courtyard before the Lord's words cam hurtling back at him like a boomerang, before striking him with the pain of reaalisation- how many times have you denied Christ? directly OR indirectly!

he is no fool, who gives up what he has to gain what he cannot lose.

it's jesus way or the highway

TWO OF MAN'S GREATEST SINS

in my humble opinion, i feel that two of man's greatest sins are ignorance and pride.

ignorance is a classic sin. but it stems from the root of pride. let me qualify. to be ignorant presupposes a truth, a knowledge, something convicting and life-changing. something absolute and valuable. something immutable amd powerful. when one comes into awareness of this truth, one moves from a point from the darkness of ignorance into the illumination of enlightenment of epiphany. ignorace grows from the self-confidence and the lack of ambition to know and discover. it is the voice that cries, "enough! shag!" or "so? can't be bothered." it is the jadedness of learning that brings one's journey of education to a screechiing halt and says i really do know enough, learning more? no thanks, i'll pass.

this is where pride comes in. in our pride, we end up placing a false valuation on ourselves and our interests over that of other's, deifying our own persons and removing god from his place of authority in our worldviews. we become the sole determinants of our everyday decisions, and our actions have no significant consequence on anyone either than myself. that is pride, when one takes god's throne and casts him down. ignorance therefore, grows from this notion that suggests that what i know is sustenable enough for me. i know enough! it's fine.

let us not fall prey to the true sin of pride- which lifts a man beyond where he was meant to place in creation. the people at the tower of babel were not compeletely evil and depraved, let us say, but merely seeking to glorify their own race over all the earth, to "reach god" on human terms.

no man can reach god on his own terms. no man can glorify himself and still serve the living god. Jesus said, (i paraphrase) no man can serve two masters. either he will love the one and hate the other or hate the one and love the other. look into ur hearts and examine, who is your master? is it yourself that you see seated on the throne of your heart? or is it a man whose blood drips from his palms and feet, down the sides of the throne and puddle the floor of your heart's throne room. because that floor should be nothing less than SOAKED in His redeeming blood. and the result of that permeating power of His sacrifical love, is a response which cries out, "jesus! i want to know you more and more! teach me not be ignorant and not to accept packaged perspectives of who you are! i want to know you, that i can worship you in Spirit and in Truth! come, Lord Jesus, COme"

ignorance is defeated by diligence, ambition, study and wisdom: working together to lead one to a point of enlightenment. even if one never GETS to that fullness of total understanding, at least we GESTURE towards that endpoint, and for that reason, i am sure our father in heaven, teh God of all Truth, smiles when He sees us trying to seek Him. after all, the bible says, "call to me and I will answer you, and i will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know" jeremiah 33:3. pride is defeated by humilty, confession of sins, true worship of God, and an accountability of brothers in which the HOly Spirit can slowly but surely, change the hearts of men, turning them towards teh things of God that we may be made complete in Him who began a good work in us.

Philipians 1:6 " He who began a good work in you will complete it till the day of jesus Christ"

are u letting god enlighten your ignorance, and dampen your pride?

MORAL RELATIVITY

okay, and so i begin the long and arguous attempt by linking a bunch of verses together... here we go


In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
judges 21:25 (nkjv)

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
John 16:13

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
John 8:32

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." To this, Pilate replied "What is truth?"
John18:37-38

man has always grappled with the issue of authority, obedience, morality and standardisation. as the quote in judges describes, there was once an era where man was teh relative authority for his own actions- he did what he pleased, as what was right and wrong were merely self-determined, and the relativistic worldview accommodated such lifestyles. modern day life is not unlike the world in judges- our worldviews are desperately shaped by liberalism and democracy to the point where my personal freedoms as a human being, if i am to paraphrase democratic constititutions, allow me to livee a free life- a life where i can pursue "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

but at what cost? if i am my own basis of truth, and i am a changing, finite being, then surely there is no benchmark for anything. to borrow ravi's illustration, if i am in a car, and i notice that everything outside my car is moving, then i know i am moving. but if i put my foot on the pedal, i notice that the objects from which i am relative to, are static. what if those objects too, were to start moving when i imagined myself to sttop? surely i would be disoriented and confused spatially, because our finite senses are dependant upon a relative motion and relative stacitiy. what is our basis for knowing whether we are moving or stopping? how do u kknow if your life is progressing or retrograding? what are the authorities and points of reference that ocme into play when you make decisions? such a life is compeltely unliveable. we need absolute truth in our lives if we are to live meaningfully or purposefully.

i have heard many who tell me, "i'm young. let me play for a while. ill stop drinking later. or i'll stop smoking soon. or i'll stop clubbing soon. soon, i'll go t church IN MY OWN TIME. WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT, i'll go. GIVE ME TIME" all these references to letting one determine the position of the self are are simply equivocations- the license to do as one pleases, just as in judges, when man did what was right in his own eyes.

jesus came along many years later and said, "i am the way, the TRUTH, the life- NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME" joh 14:6. in that, jesus was making an absolute claim to being the source of objective truth, and having that bound to him and his person. today, in a world of moral uncertainty, jesus stands alone in claiming to be that source. many other religious teachers claim that the truth is OUT THERE, and awaits enlightenmnent, but jesus alone says i am that truth my child. if god is not the objective basis for truth (which i hope i've established as compeltely necessary) then what is? how else can we explain the pulsating moral obligations we feel when we see a well-bodied man taking colelctions for the red cross? how else cna we explain the feeling of sympathy and deep loss when we see someone passing on, even though we may not be completely familiar? these rest on absolute truths- the absolute truth of jesus, who says, "child, you are infinitely valuable. i love you. live in a way such as to please me, because you were designed as such". jesus is that truth.

pilate once asked, "what is truth" in a classic statement at jesus trial. i love that quote, so loaded with postmodern implications and truly, suited for the thinkers of the 21st century. nietzsche (hope i got that right) said, "god is dead". and with that, absolute truth died for many ppl, including nietzsche himself, who commited suicide after being pronounced insane. today, we ask the same question. what is truth. and jesus answers with confidence- i am the way the truth and teh life. make no compromises with the truth of christ and his word.


O God Of Truth
Hymn Lyrics

O God of truth, Whose living Word
Upholds whate’er hath breath,
Look down on Thy creation, Lord,
Enslaved by sin and death.

Set up Thy standard, Lord, that we,
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the lies
That vex Thy groaning earth.

Ah! would we join that blest array,
And follow in the might
Of Him, the Faithful and the True,
In raiment clean and white!

We fight for truth, we fight for God,
Poor slaves of lies and sin!
He who would fight for Thee on earth
Must first be true within.

Then, God of truth, for Whom we long,
Thou Who wilt hear our prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts,
And slay the falsehood there.

Still smite; still burn; till naught is left
But God’s own truth and love;
Then, Lord, as morning dew come down,
Rest on us from above.

Yes, come: then, tried as in the fire,
From every lie set free,
Thy perfect truth shall dwell in us,
And we shall live in Thee.

Now I Make My Good Confession

"Take hold of the eternal life whichyou were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:12b

Now I make my good confession,
Here I take my gospel stand:
Jesus is my Lord and Saviour-
by God's gracious, perfect plan.

I was born in sin's dark prison-
Jesus came to set me free:
Through His cross and resurrectionm
paid my debt and rescued me.

I receive and rest on Jesus-
put my faith in Christ alone,
All my hope is in the mercy God,
through Christ, has made my own.

Now by grace I humbly promise,
and resolve in Christian love
To serve CHrist by serving others,
for the praise of God above.

All I own and all my worship,
now belong to Christ my King;
I will love the church- God's people-
trust God's Word in everything.

Here's my life- Lord, take and use it,
use my gifts to spread your fame;
I will go where Jesus calls me,
live and die for His great name.

A hymn for making public confession of faith in Christ

Paul S. Jones, 2004
Philip Graham Ryken, 2004
Tenth Presbyterian Church

WAKE UP AND START WORKING! Rev 3:1-6

Rev 3

1"To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b]of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. 4Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Caleb says:
There are times when GOd admonishes the body of CHrist with firmness and in a spirit of discipline, especially when they lose sight of their first love. It is an often occurence for believers of CHrist to be distracted and swayed from their one true purpose in CHrist- "to know Him and make Him known".

JOhn 10:10 shows us Jesus' most powerful claim, that He has come that "they may life abundant". Ravi Zacharias said that
"Jesus did not come to make bad men good, but to make dead men live". often, however, Man finds himself defeated and being unable to claim access to that abundance, not because God's ways are flawed, but we fail to take hold of that which we have so blessedly received. THe evangelistic aspect of the Christian life is necessary- commanded, demanded, admonished and encouraged. If we fail short of fulfilling that goal, Christianity fails. We become a "holy huddle" of inward looking believers whose hearts do not beat with Christ's, and we deny ourselves that portion of being in His will, and enjoying His blessing.

To these, Jesus says "wake up!" like the church of sardis, we need to snap out of it, and come to terms with the truth of the Word, His calling in our lives. It's easy to pick and choose which parts of SCripture we prefer to others, but it is the Devil's wish that we disregard the whole message. Satan knows the Bible well enough to distort it, and we must resist the enemy by realising the fullness of GOd's calling in our lives- to Know Him And Make Him Known. (read the following commentary)

Start today:
1.) think of three people this week yet saved, and bring them before the Master, asking Him to invade their hearts and minds, to meet them at points of need, and that He will open up opportunities in conversation for you to tell them why YOu believe.

2.) write a script, start preparing for that conversation whenever it may come, and practise your evangelistic skills TODAY! start memorising that script, or portions of scripture that you can use, and don't overquote john 3:16! use the Sword of the SPirit- the Word of GOd!

3.)ask them out for lunch! and look for a chance to share the good news!

4.) commit the three persons in prayer, keeping each other accountable! in your accountability groups, pray for each other's target, asking the Holy SPirit to fan into flame a passion for His work.

Commentary: The Problem With the Church At Sardis
The "dead" church

The church at Sardis was pronounced as being "dead" (3:1). It appeared to be alive – had "a reputation of being alive" – looked spiritually vibrant on the outside – but was spiritually lifeless. The church was Christian in name only. This recalls Christ’s scathing rebuke of the Pharisees who "look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean" (Matthew 23:27).

Says G.R. Beasley-Murray: "The appearance [of the Sardis church] is that of a beautifully adorned corpse in a funeral parlour, and the Lord is not deceived" (Revelation, p. 95). The church needed to stir up the living Spirit of God in order to come to life.

What was dead about the church and what needed reviving? First, there was no indication of persecution or trouble from outside forces. Neither was there any heresy within, in contrast to some of the other churches. Things seemed to be peaceful and religiously correct. Perhaps it was a church that was too good to be true. Its religiously proper appearance may have only meant that it had fully and silently compromised with the truth and the pagan society around it. G.B. Caird calls Sardis "The perfect model of inoffensive Christianity" (A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, p. 48).

That might explain its calm and sedated outward appearance. George Eldon Ladd defined the Sardis church as, "A picture of nominal Christianity, outwardly prosperous, busy with the externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power" (A Commentary on the Revelation of John, p. 56).

Paul had described such Christians by saying they seemed quite religious but denied God’s power in their lives (2 Timothy 3:5). This church community of living dead needed the power of God to bring them back to life. Christ therefore gave Sardis a jolting command to "Wake up!" (3:2). The rousing call was meant to encourage the church to take action. The members were to strengthen what little remained, to obey, to repent (3:2-3). Jesus told the church at Sardis to wake up or he would come like a thief does. "You will not know at what time I will come to you," he said (2:3).


http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/Rev/rev3a.htm

PARABLES

Mark 4

9Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,
" 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'[a]"

God is violently opposed to the simplicity and packaging of religion, as the Pharisees did to their faith, ritualising and codifying into a series of steps and actions. In the New Testament, Jesus presents a hostility and animousity to the Pharisees who had done just that, simplified and tainted the concept of faith and truth into Religion. In the Old Testament, God, through the whirlwind, also "condemns" Job's friends led by Epliphaz, who attempted to simplify their faith.

The parables were used a means of filtering those who were insightful and committed enough to probe the unclear for the clarity of the truth. After all, in a Gospel meeting, many will hear the blessed message preached, and many will leave feeling good, but how many will have encountered the living Christ? In the passge of Mark 4 where Jesus quotes Isaiah 6, we see this clearly.

The passage sets up a clear line between inclusion and exclusion, referring to those who are "outside" as opposed to "you", who we assume, are the direct addressees of Christ. How comforting it is to know that as we read these words of truth, we too, as His disciples, are those on the Inside if we "perceive" past the words that we "see" on the page! 1 John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

The passage also sets up the idea that "someone might turn and be forgiven" which some may interpret as God's desire to deliberately exclude some from being saved. the Bible reads that He desires that "none may perish". However, He does desire that those who desire to follow Him draw near and make their choice clear.As such, the parables become a method of filtering and separating the willing from the unwilling, who will see but not perceive, hear and not understand. For if they do, they might be saved- the closing lines of the passage seem harsh and unkind. However, an alternate reading suggests that they have that chance and opportunity if only they pay close attention to the message of the gospel.
will your eyes merely see or will they perceive? will your ears merely hear or will they understand?