Epaggelia

When Jesus made the comparison of Christians to Sheep, he was not trying to insult us, He realizes that no one escapes the fact that in this life, the grass always looks greener on the other side.

Regardless of where that phrase comes from, we all feel it from time to time. For a Christian, that “other side” is always farther away from Jesus the great and chief Shepherd of our soul. God is good, in that he lets suffering like a sheepdog chase us back into His loving presence. Jesus put it this way, “My sheep hear my voice” (Jn. 10:27). The problem we sheep have, is that we get so caught up with wandering after greener grass, we fall out of range for the Savior’s voice.  We should be thankful that He lets suffering enter our life as a test to see if we will believe He is faithful to forgive us. Do we look at the suffering as a sheepdog and try to run away in disbelief, or do we humbly submit and get closer to the Shepherd? If we don’t try to get closer, remember the wolves are out there. Sheep are no match for the evil of Satan, when you consider the goodness of God.

There was once a big growing family that was struggling with the old adage of “Familiarity breeds contempt”.  As the parents bickered, the children caught on quick and they were all caught up in the vicious cycle of contempt.  Their grandparents who had seen it all before, offered these words on kindness.  “We must all accept that some days we are pigeons and on other days, we are the statue”.  One of the little children promptly asked,  what pigeons do on statues, and Grandpa replied, “Let’s just say that if we keep our words sweet, we don’t have to worry about eating them later.  But if you really can’t say anything kind, then at least have the decency to be vague.  The child grinned and told everyone that it was her turn to be the pigeon, but she would sing instead of drop anything.

It would be nice if everyone caught on to Grandpa’s words that quick. Suffice it to say that we must all accept that the friction families feel when our differences make us diffcult to deal with, is simply a reminder that we are all very much like a big box of crayons.  Some people are sharp,  some dull, some pretty, some have wierd names, but we all vary in color and must live in the same box. Would Jesus put such emphasis on kindness? It was Jesus who said, “God is kind to the ungrateful”, (Luke 6:35). So let us use our words to color each other in with kindness, even when you feel like your the statue.

If you won a game or inherited riches, would you feel duty bound to share the news?  If you pinned your hopes on a promise of a promotion or raise at work, once you got it, would you feel hesitant to share your hope fulfilled with everyone? Wouldn’t you be bragging about your boss or how well your company is doing, since you got the benefits promised? Maybe some of us would shy away from such boasting for fear of what other people would expect from us, but in the church, do we know what we have won?  Do we believe promises have been fulfilled in our life with God? Do we believe God has promoted us in His view? If we answer yes to these questions, we shouldn’t struggle with evangelism, because we will be driven to share our faith out of love and thankfulness for the privileged position God has put us in. Evangelism should be as natural as growing fruit on a tree, because the fruit of the Holy Spirit engenders evangelism; it is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, (Gal. 5:22-23). This is good news!

When we talk about privileges or rights, we usually think of issues like health-care, gun-control or polling votes. But since Christians know our victory, rewards and sanctification is not a right which is earned and to be argued about, why don’t we view it and treat it as a privilege? It may be because we are afraid of the consequences of evangelism. When was the last time you heard someone shouting from the rooftops that they had won the lottery. The fear of how the public might react would scare any winner of the lottery. So how can we be strengthened to overcome doubts and fears of evangelism? Grow the fruit of the Spirit, and experience God strengthen you to share your faith against all the consequences even Satan can throw at you.

Fear is a very human emotino and even Jesus had reason to feel fear. After all, he was the one to face a demon-possbe There are great lessons to be learnt from the way Jesus handled demon-possession and what he taught us about the Devil. Matthew, Mark & Luke all record the miracle of exorcism east of the lake of Galilee, (Mt. 8:28-34, Mk. 5:1-20, Lk. 8:26-39). John gives us spiritual insight into the privilege of spiritual warfare, evangelism is the epitome of fighting evil and overcoming it with good and destroying the works of the devil, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work, no one who is born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed remains in him, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God, This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. (1st Jon. 3:8-10).

When we sow the seed of the Kingdom, or share our faith in our actions, we are then involved in spiritual warfare. Jesus demonstrated this spiritual truth by physically exorcising demons. Why else would God repeat Himself in the story of the crazed demon possessed man being exorcised? He is teaching us what our priorities should be in following Jesus and being like Him. When was the last time you helped destroy the work of Satan and blot out a multitude of sins?

If we are fearful of consequences in evangelism, then remember how Jesus reacted to the consequences He faced from the public after helping the demoniac. He had the pig farmers complaining. He had the villagers scared and He even had the healed man, begging him to stay. Remember that when people give you friction in sharing your faith, it may be because they are SCARED. All sorts of problems arose from the good Jesus did. Did He quit or even slow down? No, He considered Himself in a privileged position, making eternal consequences, not temporal effects. What He did, He knew had lasting effects which He knew He would never see in this life. We must never suffer from spiritual myopia; focus on the big picture of eternity and immortal victories. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” Rev. 14:13.

Don’t be discouraged by people’s destructive criticisms, like the misunderstanding of harm and loss of pigs and profit. Have you ever heard people criticize Christians for being so spiritually minded, they are no earthly good? There are at least two instances of misunderstandings and criticisms towards God’s good work.

a. 1st Kings 17:18-19, The widow had seen God’s powerful miraculous restoration of the oil and flour, and when she saw she lost her son, she blamed God, but because of the perseverance of Elijah’s faith, her faith was restored.

b. Acts 19:21-41, 20:1, 36-37, If not for the fearful riot of the Ephesians, would Paul have been knit closer to the saints there? Would there have been a letter to the Ephesians? What would we do without it? Paul had to fight wild beasts at Ephesus, but did it stop or kill him?(1st Cor. 15:22). If it had, he never would have written the letter we have today.

Jesus said that we should rejoice when people persecute you for righteousness sake, Matthew 5:10-12 & Luke 6:22-36. Twice the apostle John proclaims that we have already OVERCOME the evil one, 1st John 2:13-14. So if we are over-comers, why fear the opposition? Greater is He that is in me that he who is in the world. Is it a privilege or a pain to be an over-comer? Over-comers don’t just influence, they impact lives. It is a privilege to be called a child of the Almighty and a sibling of the King of kings. Heb. 2:11. We are privileged because we have been GIVEN the victory, we haven’t won it for the high quality of our faith. We haven’t earned it because of the noble expressions of our faith. We haven’t deserved it for the high price of our personal sacrifices. We have become more then conquerors, because we simply chose to submit to the sprinkling of the precious, powerful and victorious blood of the Lamb, and walk by faith, following His example in our daily life. Overcoming sin and the world, and all the fiery darts Satan can hurl at us, Eph. 6:16. It is a privileged position to be in Christ.

Does each and every Christian have a specific and privileged purpose in Christ? Yes, even the unknown Archippus mentioned in Colossians 4:17 had a job that God wanted him to complete. You and I do too. Pray and ensure that we do not let our work that we have recieved from The Lord go unknown. Whatever it is, pray for help in completing it. As Paul said, “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

Jesus is not on record for buying anything, but he did make a purchase for  people.  How?  Not with money, but with his blood. When he offered his blood, he did it with pain and torture that none of us have experienced. He did it for us who believe and what did He get in return? His reward is seen in three ways. The reward of Christ’s sufferings and the purchase of his blood results in the cleansing and beautifying of his people. (Ephesians 5:25-27) The reward of Christ’s sufferings is also seen in the zeal of his people for good deeds. (Titus 2:14)  The reward of Christ’s sufferings is a ransomed people from every tribe and language and nation. He bought us from slavery in sin, into freedom with Him. (Revelation 5:9)  How much of our life does Jesus have in return for His purchase?

In ancient times as in modern times, we have a desire to pass on to our children, a heritage.  Some people call it an inheritance, and whether we like to admit it or not, we children, expect our parents to have some kind of inheritance for us.  In the Bible, families often counted their flocks and herds as a heritage, something valuable and given in your old age as a parent to your children.  The people of God today are counted precious and as God’s own heritage, both in the Old Testament and the New, (Joel 3:2, Ephesians 1:11). He gives us many more blessings that are impossible for us to count and in turn we  are expected to bless Him as a precious heritage should. He also counts us as His flock. In the Bible, sheep are described as:

Beautiful, (Jeremiah 13:20)

Wise & Harmless (Matthew 10:16)

Lost, but Found & Rejoiced Over (Mt. 18:12-20)

Gathered together by a Resurrected Shepherd, (Matthew 26:31-32)

Do you believe God looks upon Christians like this?  All Christians? Yes it is a precious faith He gave us and God expects us to give this Faith to others…

God says through the apostle Paul, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:3) This is an amazing verse. We are not responsible for creating unity, but we are responsible for maintaining unity that has been created by the Spirit. His unity is His work and exists only among those who are redeemed.  It is called “the unity of the Spirit” because He convicts us of our sin, enlightens our understanding and grows our faith in Christ. (Jn. 16:8; Ac. 2:37; Heb. 6:4; 1 Cor. 12:13) He joins us together in one body – the church of Christ – which embraces all the redeemed. And the total number of the redeemed is known only to God: “The Lord knows those who are his.” (2 Tim. 2:19) Therefore, we must not think that our church directory is a copy of the Lamb’s book of life. God’s people are all over the world, and we have this in common : we, “are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ… you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26-28) How do you maintain unity?

The words of Paul to the Philippian saints are deserving of our attention. “For it is we… who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3) The expression, “put no confidence in the flesh” shows us where some Christians are going wrong; true worship is not a performance, it is not an attempt to impress our visitors or give ourselves a sense of achievement. After all, worship is not completely for our benefit. When worship becomes a performance, we are putting “confidence in the flesh”. We are saying, “Look at what we are doing. Didn’t we sound great? Aren’t you impressed?” This “confidence in the flesh” has, unintentionally, distracted from the true worship of God. From a musical point of view the singing may have been wonderful and technically correct, but God was not worshiped.

As I write this article, I am listening to sacred music that touches my very soul. It’s moving. Inspiring. It’s beautifully sung. But I know on Sunday when I assemble with fellow believers to worship God in song and praise our singing will not resemble what I am now hearing. No, our singing will not be recorded for posterity. Is that because our congregation does not care about God, or that we are not sincere in our faith? No. It has nothing to do with either of these points. When we give to Almighty God all that is rightfully his, we are worshipping God “in spirit and in truth” and putting “no confidence in the flesh”. (John 4:24; Philippians 3:3) True worship can be offered to God by people whose musical skill is in short supply or even non-existent. (I’ve met some). But God is not impressed with how well we sing; it’s the worshipful, God-honouring heart, and the content of what we express to him that constitutes true and holy worship. A congregation singing Amazing Grace off-key but from the heart is worshiping God “in spirit and in truth”. This may not impress the visitors who are present, but that’s not why the church is singing. Almighty God, not people, is our audience. When finished, God is pleased that his children have paid him such glorious homage. And if we are concerned about the visitors, they will be more impressed by the sincere, genuine, authentic faith expressed by a community of Christians than by a service that resembles their secular culture.

Joh 4:20-24  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”  Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.   But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman knew God was to be loved because God loved her. The woman knew God was real and made her, because there was no other logical conclusion to come to. The woman learnt God was seeking her, IF, she would WORSHIP (adoring submission), not if she went to the right place.

We live in an entertainment culture, and that entertainment factor has made inroads into many churches bringing with it the attitude that says we must make people “feel good”. We must keep people awake and entertained. Our worship must be “upbeat”, so we must provide a worship service that impacts people so that they will come back again and again. Hence, worship becomes “show time” with an unhealthy focus upon the performance, which has been adapted from a world that does not know God. Some Christians feel too uncomfortable to invite their unsaved friends on Sunday lest the worship service extinguish, for all time, their interest in the Christian faith. How do we address a problem like this? If we are trying to make our worship service relevant to those outside the community of faith – and narrow the gap between the church and the world – by having a style of worship similar to their secular culture, are we not sounding very like apostate Israel who said, “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20) But behind this seemingly good idea, a heart of rebellion was to be found. God told Samuel, “it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (1 Samuel 8:7)

Who do we want to worship?

Heb 12:21-26  Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,  and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,  and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.  At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.

We need the Bible, not our culture, to define true worship for us. When we worship we are offering to God all that is rightfully his. Revelation (chapters 4 & 5) shows us what true worship entails. True worship is praising God for his infinite love and mercy, for his eternal purpose to save us through Christ Jesus his Son, for inscribing our name in the Lamb’s book of life and for having prepared a place for us in heaven. When we express these and other truths to God from the depth of our heart, we are engaging in worshipping him because our focus is on Almighty God. We are pouring out our heart in praise and adoration to a holy and righteous God.