Life Here and There

This is based on my sermon for New Year’s, which comes from [youversion]2 Timothy 2:21[/youversion] and surrounding verses.

Is it even possible to really change? Millions of people must be asking that question, especially as we face another new year. You may already have a list of areas of your life you’re going to change. Whether they are “resolutions” or not, you’re hoping you can make it this year.

ONE GREAT TRUTH: Change is possible. In fact, it’s God’s plan for all of His children to change us into the image of Christ, but we have to be ready first – prepared for His use through repentance and renewal.

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What is it to be a Christian? Is it that we’ve had a one-time experience of salvation? Or is it that we experience growth in Christ daily, some evidence of change? I know the argument is endless, but I wanted to share this quote from Clyde Crandford’s book Because We Love Him.

Repentance that is not ongoing is not genuine; faith that does not involve surrender is not adequate; a life in which holiness does not develop is not Christian.

You may or may not agree, but I think if nothing else, this statement should serve as a wake-up call for believers. We argue about this issue because we haven’t lived consistently. A life in which we are ever being changed into Christ’s image should be the norm, not the rare exception. How are you changing today?Technorati Tags: discipleship, salvation, repentance, holiness, clyde cranford, growth

I am currently reading Andy Stanley’s book Visioneering and have just completed the chapter about having moral authority in leadership. Stanley gives a couple of examples of how moral authority works in our lives. One example was Mother Teresa’s harsh words about abortion during a National Day of Prayer breakfast in Washington. Though the Clinton’s and Gore’s gave little response, the room erupted into a standing ovation after she spoke. Why would such a small woman have such a huge impact? Moral authority.

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“Turn… And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding…” -Jeremiah 3:14-15

The period of the prophets was marked with the terrible tragedy of a declining spiritual leadership. It was an age of false prophecies and empty messages. It was a duplication of the age of which the Apostle Paul speaks when he proclaims, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Our supercenter generation today is begging for an entertaining, ear-tickling message as well. We don’t want to hear about sin, about repentance, and about hell. We’d rather hear about how to change diapers and how to get rich from the pulpits of America than to hear about our need to turn back to God in humble repentance. Jeremiah issued an amazing prophecy here. Turn… and then God will give you truthtellers, pastors according to his heart.

I love growing churches. I believe God can use megachurches and there are some great ones in existance today, teaching the truth and making disciples. At the same time, the current wave of huge churches which teach only half of the Bible’s truths is an indicator of our times. We are stuck on having relevant teaching at the expense of truthtelling. May God give us hearts of repentance, that we would turn and seek His truth!

“Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.” -Hosea 6:1-2 (NKJV)

Sometimes reading the Old Testament prophets is like reading the history of America: a once great people, having enjoyed the blessing of God, now taking their Creator for granted and living in idolatry and religious pretense, judged, punished, and then prayerfully restored. The problem with Israel in Hosea’s time was not so much that they no longer worshipped for they did offer praise to God. Hosea announced, “My people are bent on backsliding from me. Though they call on the Most High, none at all exalt Him.” (11:7)

As much as I believe in actively working as the salt and light of the world, we sometimes miss the point. Fighting for the display of the Ten Commandments will not bring revival to America. It would provide a bandaid but it would fall short of the ultimate healing so desperately needed. What does America need? The kind of revival that came during the Great Awakening, experienced and led by men such as Jonathan Edwards. A revival of humility, repentance, and confession before God. A revival of earnest and heartfelt faith and of a true commitment to following the Lord with endurance. Just read a sample of the kind of message America needs by clicking here.

The Lord brought revival to Israel because He loved them. He brought revival to America in at least two great, sweeping movements of the Holy Spirit and other smaller movements as well. Now Lord, do it again! Bring us revival that grows from repentance. Help America be the land You can bless again!

I often struggle to find the balance between certain aspects of my theology. One such area of difficulty is in the balance between teaching repentance and faith for salvation. There are many today who presume that repentance is not necessary for salvation. For me, this is not an option for repentance is too engrained into the message of the Bible. Others would say that mentioning faith without preaching repentance produces false converts.

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“They will suffer punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might.”-2 Thessalonians 1:9

God is just, therefore He will punish those who reject Him, His Son, and His message. Paul said in Romans 1 that even those whose only witness of God’s existence is in creation “did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.” So a failure to experience, enjoy, and magnify the glory of God on earth will end with not only eternal destruction but with an even worse fate: separation from His glory forever.

You see, there is a real hell, an eternal lake of fire, that awaits all those who reject God’s witness to them. But the greatest punishment is not physical, emotional, or intellectual. It is spiritual. The worst punishment will be that not only did they pass up every chance to glorify Him as God, but after the judgment, they will never again have the chance. There is a finality about death and about the second coming of Jesus. That finality is tragically wrapped around an eternal inability to share in the glory of God.

Do you know the one way to avoid eternal separation from the presence of the Lord? It is to begin a personal relationship with Him and enjoy His presence in life today through His Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again from the grave to reconcile us to God. Anyone who comes to Jesus in this life, in genuine repentance and faith, will be saved and will enjoy God’s presence and glory now, tomorrow, and forever!

“Remember therefore form where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent.” -Revelation 2:5 (NKJV)

John, writing on Jesus’ behalf to the church at Ephesus, gives them a simple, three-step approach to recovering their first love. It’s a plan that applies to us anytime we turn our gaze from Jesus to something less, base, and worldly. When our heart’s affection turns from our loving Master to the gods of this world, we must follow His action plan to recover.

Remember the grace whereby you were saved to begin with. You were given a new position in Christ and you received an eternal sonship in the family of God. You were washed clean and completely forgiven of sin. Remember that. Repent of sin. Confess it with contrition of heart. Remember that the greatest sacrifice for God is “a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17). Repentance entails a confessing, but also a turning and forsaking of sin. It means to begin to agree with God about the heinous nature of sin. Then return to your first works. Get back to the growth you experienced and the passion for Christ you had when you were originally saved.

The Ephesian church had preserved right belief but had, at some point, forgotten their passion for the Savior. Anytime we will argue over doctrine but we won’t give up a sin or worldly practice, we’ve replaced our first love. Let’s remember, repent, and return to a life lived with real and lasting passion for Jesus.

“But where sin did abound, grace did much more abound.” -Romans 5:20b

Sin is always extreme. When a person comes to a place of repentance and faith in Christ, their perspective of sin changes. They begin to see that Adam and Eve were not merely guilty of tasting some forbidden fruit, they were actually guilty of rejecting all of God’s good provision in paradise in exchange for the possibility of being sufficient without their Creator. If you’re a believer in Christ, sin is extreme. It is rebellion and the punishment of eternity in hell makes sense in light of God’s holiness.

But where sin is extreme, grace is far more extreme. Grace is radical. Grace goes beyond merely forgiving sin, it restores us, renews us, regenerates us. Grace is God’s means of giving gifts beyond measure. What the heniousness of sin destroys, the miraculous nature of grace restores manifold.

How do you see your sin? Is sin a harmless prank against God? Or is it an offense to the nature and law of the Almighty Creator? We ought to view sin with extreme hatred, but we ought to view grace with extreme pleasure. In fact, we should be so turned away by the nature of sin that we run with haste to feast ourselves on the goodness of God’s grace. Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound!

“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.” -Isaiah 1:16

Some people have the mistaken assumption that the God of the Old Testament is a harsh God and the God of the New Testament is a soft God. The reality is that God’s character has never changed at all. He said through the prophet Isaiah, “cease to do evil…” He said through His Son, “go and sin no more…” He is loving, but harsh toward our sin. He forgives, but He has high expectations as well.

Repentance is sometimes misunderstood as being the same as confession, but repentance means to change the way we think. It involves confession, which means to agree with God about our sin. So if we confess our sins, thereby changing the way we think about our sin, then the follow-through will be a ceasing, a forsaking. God is patient and knows that we often make the same mistakes repeatedly. That does not, however, lessen His expectations for us, nor does it weaken His potential to work in us.

If you feel like your sins are impossible to overcome, remember this truth: God would never command you to do something you are not capable of doing in His power, such as ceasing from sin. Instead, He wants you to learn to rely on him for “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) The desire to cease from sin comes from Him, as does the ability. Before you can cease from sin, you must surrender to Him.